A  PICKED 
COMPANY 

BY 
MARY  HALLOCK  FOOTE 


"A     PICKED     COMPANY." 

Mary    Hallock    Foote    in     "A    Picked 
Company"    tells    a    vivid    story    of    the 
adventures    of   a   body   of  pioneers   who 
cross    the    plains    from    their    homes    in 
the  East  to   go  to  Oregon.     The   record 
of    this    long    trip    is    made    more    note- 
worthy   for     the     tragedy    that    results 
from    the    lawless    love    of    a    girl    who 
j  has  come  from   the  West  Indies     as  the 
1  guest   of  her  aunt.      This   girl,   who  has 
none    of    the    Puritan    instincts,    accepts 
the    attentions    of    a    coarse,    but    bril- 
liant man,  and  she  does  not  check  these 
attentions     when     she     learns     that     he 
still    has   a   xvife   in   the    East.      The    re- 
eult  of  her  infatuation   is   the  same  old 
story,   ami   the   man   who  causes  all   the 
trouble    falls    by    the    hand    of   a    youth, 
the  son  of  the  leader  of  the  party,  in  a 
fair  duel.     There   is  much  in  this  story 
which     must     have     been     tak>  n     direct 
from    some   old   diary,    but   the    life   and 
color    and    the    sketches    of    characters 
are  Mrs.  Foote's  own,  and  she  has  never 
done    stronger    or    better    work.      (Bos- 
ton:    Houghton  Mifflin  Company;   pric'e 
$1   30  net.) 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


JjaUocfc  f  oote 


A  PICKED  COMPANY. 

THE  ROYAL  AMERICANS. 

A  TOUCH  OF  SUN  AND  OTHER  STORIES. 

THE  DESERT  AND  THE  SOWN. 

THE  PRODIGAL.    Illustrated  by  the  Author. 

THE  CHOSEN  VALLEY. 

THE  LED-HORSE  CLAIM.     Illustrated. 

JOHN  BODEWIN'S  TESTIMONY. 

THE    LAST  ASSEMBLY    BALL,  and  THE  FATE 

OF  A  VOICE. 

IN  EXILE,  AND  OTHER  STORIES. 
COEUR   D'ALENE.     A  Novel. 
THE     CUP    OF    TREMBLING,     AND    OTHER 

STORIES. 
THE    LITTLE    FIG-TREE   STORIES.    With  two 

illustrations  by  MRS.  FOOTE,  and  a  colored  Cover 

Design. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 


A  PICKED  COMPANY 

A   NOVEL 


A 

PICKED  COMPANY 

A  Novel 

BY 

MARY  HALLOCK  FOOTE 


BOSTON    AND   NEW   YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

re#*  Camtirib0e  ' 
1912 


COPYRIGHT,    1912,   BY   MARY   HALLOCK   FOOTE 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  October  tqit 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 

I.  THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER 3 

II.  Two  DAUGHTERS  OP  ONE  RACE 18 

III.  COLONIZATION  SUNDAY 31 

IV.  THE  FIRST  VOLUNTEER 41 

V.  FOR  THE  YOUNG      .    .    .    • 55 

VI.  A  SALE  AND  AN  ENGAGEMENT 60 

VII.  THE  UMBRELLA 68 

VIII.  BETWEEN  Two  STOOLS 75 

IX.  THE  COVENANT 83 

X.  OPPORTUNITY 90 

XI.  BRADBURN'S  EDUCATION 98 

XII.  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  ROAD 105 

XIII.  THE  WAGONS  AT  NIGHT 113 

XIV.  SILENCE 120 

XV.  THE  FIRST  ADMONITION 126 

XVI.  THE  SECOND  ADMONITION 134 

XVII.   AN  APOSTOLIC  JUDGMENT 146 

XVIII.  THE  PARSON'S  SON 152 

XIX.  MUTINY 161 

XX.  A  SURE  REMEDY 171 

XXI.    "A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE" 174 

XXII.  THINKING  IT  OVER 187 

XXIII.  A  SCOFFER'S  SERMON 193 

XXIV.  THE  DIVIDE    ,  .  199 


Mi.8922 


vi  CONTENTS 


XXV.  THE  BETTER  MAN 207 

XXVI.   ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH  SIDES    ....  213 

XXVII.   THE  CAMP  OF  WAITING 224 

XXVIII.   THE  WOMEN'S  PART 232 

XXIX.  THE  MEN'S  PART 241 

XXX.  THE  FIRST  OFFERING 251 

PART  II 

I.   HAIL  AND  FAREWELL! 257 

II.  THE  TRUTH  AS  IT  is  TOLD 264 

III.  STILL  WITH  Us 270 

IV.  THE  WASTERS 273 

V.  THE  BUILDERS 282 

VI.   THE  GAMBLERS 294 

VII.   CORN  AND  CABBAGES 307 

VIII.   THE  DEAD  FAWN 311 

IX.  THE  DELEGATE 323 

X.  THE  WIFE  OF  His  BOSOM 327 

XI.  SYMPTOMS  OF  A  CHANGE 332 

XII.   THE  EMPTY  BEDROOM 336 

XIII.  RUNNING  WATER 343 

XIV.  ACROSS  THE  BORDER 355 

XV.  HAVING  REACHED  THE  BAY 360 

•  XVI.   A  MAIL  FROM  THE  SOUTH 371 

XVII.   THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL     ....  380 

XVIII.  THE  GRAVES 393 

XIX.   A  WEDDING-GIFT  DELAYED 401 

XX.  THE  SAME  DAY  .  408 


PAET  I 


A  PICKED  COMPANY 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER  • 


THE  storm  had  increased  steadily  toward  nightfall,  though 
Mr.  Hannington  had  found  it  far  from  pleasant  driving 
that  afternoon,  over  country  roads  to  an  out-of-town 
funeral.  He  might  have  made  the  weather  or  the  distance 
an  excuse  for  not  going,  or  that  he  had  seen  so  little  in 
late  years  of  the  old  neighbor  just  deceased,  but  these 
were  reasons  that  with  Alvin  worked  the  other  way.  "  I 
guess  I  am  full  as  equal  to  it  as  Mr.  Yardley,"  he  an- 
swered his  wife's  concern  on  his  behalf.  It  had  ended  in 
his  taking  the  minister  with  him,  and  as  they  plodded 
home  together  under  the  same  buggy-top  through  the 
rain,  he  opened  the  subject  of  a  decision  that  he  and 
Silence  had  come  to,  which  would  add  new  material  for 
church  membership  and  another  girl  to  the  young  people's 
circle  of  Dugdale. 

"  It  will  be  quite  a  different  element  in  your  house- 
hold," Mr.  Yardley  observed,  speaking  of  the  young  rela- 
tive who  was  expected. 

"Yes,"  said  Alvin,  "she  won't  be  altogether  our  kind, 
more  than  likely,  but  that  may  be  some  advantage  on  both 
sides." 

It  was  a  way  of  looking  at  it  characteristic  of  Alvin ; 
the  minister  could  have  nothing  to  say  in  disapproval, 
though  he  would  have  preferred  to  keep  the  Hannington 


A  PICKED  COMPANY 


family  as  lie  had  always  known  it,  and  he  had  a  stake 
of  his  own  in  the  social  life  of  Dugdale  in  the  person  of 
a  handsome,  headstrong  son. 

It  was  now  rather  late  in  the  evening :  Alvin  had  fin- 
ishe^/U^PJ^'  folded  his  spectacles  and  the  curtains  of 
Jtiis.,  C9psciousne.ss  and  settled  himself  for  a  doze.  Mrs. 
:  lI-aflriJng.tpin'MpoJred  at  him  and  at  the  clock ;  there  were 
matters  awaiting  discussion  that  with  difficulty  she  had 
postponed  till  he  should  have  done  with  his  reading,  but 
she  had  not  reckoned  on  a  bedtime  nap.  Repression  at 
this  moment  had  given  a  slight  set  to  her  features  which 
did  injustice  to  their  general  benignity  and  the  pleasure 
she  was  taking  in  her  work ;  finishing  the  buttonholes  in 
one  of  Barbie's  new  nightgowns  which  the  girl  had  left  in 
her  mother's  lap  with  a  smile  and  a  wheedling  kiss  when 
she  went  off  to  read  "  Philothea "  alone  by  the  dining- 
room  fire.  Barbie  could  make  beautiful  buttonholes  her- 
self, but  preferred  to  charm  them  out  of  her  mother ;  she 
had  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  weak  points  in  that 
woman's  character.  Most  mothers  are  strong  in  theory, 
but  we  think  that  many  were  infirm  in  practice,  even  in 
Hampshire  County,  seventy  years  ago. 

Suddenly,  out  of  his  specious  slumbers,  Mr.  Hanning- 
ton  brought  forth  a  live  remark,  with  evident  deliberation 
back  of  it. 

"  I  should  think  this  house  was  big  enough  for  the  girl 
to  have  a  room  to  herself." 

Silence,  at  no  loss  to  grasp  an  allusion  to  the  very  sub- 
ject her  own  thoughts  were  busy  with,  answered  as  one 
prepared  at  all  points,  "  It  would  have  to  be  a  room  as 
good  as  Barbie's." 

"  It  would  have  to  be  comfortable,"  Mr.  Hannington 


THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER  5 

assented ;  but  this  did  not  settle  the  matter  to  a  house- 
keeper's mind  entirely. 

"  I  have  thought,''  she  considered,  "  of  giving  her  the 
northwest  chamber ;  but  then  we  should  n't  have  any  spare 
bedroom." 

"  How  about  that  little  room  next  the  linen  closet  ?  " 

"  For  a  best  bedroom !  "  —  withering  pause  to  allow  the 
sarcasm  to  sink  into  the  male  mind. 

"  For  one  of  the  girls." 

Mrs.  Hannington  put  off  her  spectacles  at  once :  "  For 
which  one,  father  ?  Barbie  has  had  that  northeast  cham- 
ber since  she  was  ten  years  old,  and  chose  it  herself, 
though  I  thought  she  would  freeze  to  death  up  there 
winters.  She  always  loved  the  room  and  I  think  she  has 
well  earned  it." 

"  Who  says  she  has  n't  ?  I  did  n't  mean  you  should  turn 
Barbie  out."  Mr.  Hannington  rose  from  the  small  of  his 
back  and  sat  forward,  neglecting  to  straighten  his  vest. 
In  domestic  argument  this  was  counter  to  his  wife's  lay- 
ing aside  her  spectacles. 

"  Would  you  want  me  to  put  Stella  Mutrie  into  a  room 
not  half  so  good  as  our  own  child's  ?  The  English  live  very 
handsomely  in  Jamaica,"  she  subjoined,  spoiling  her  point. 

"  It 's  nothing  to  us  how  they  live !  Any  room  in  this 
house  ought  to  be  good  enough  for  any  one  of  my  father's 
grandchildren.  There  was  no  such  finicking  and  fussing 
when  we  were  eleven  to  stow  away,  not  counting  company." 

Silence  accepted  the  rebuke ;  she  knew  when  she  had 
done  injustice  to  her  side  of  an  argument.  She  was  merely 
visualizing  that  little  room  next  the  linen  closet  as  it 
would  appear  to  Stella  Mutrie  coming  from  those  houses 
in  the  tropics,  with  mahogany  floors  like  dark  mirrors 


A  PICKED  COMPANY 


under  foot,  and  courts  full  of  flowers,  and  negro  servants 
to  fan  you  at  your  meals.  Mary  Hannington  had  written 
of  these  things  glowingly,  when  she  first  went  to  the 
West  Indies,  exiled  because  of  her  cough.  The  doctors 
said  she  could  not  live  North  another  winter. 

"  If  I  don't  mistake,"  Alvin  continued,  warming  into 
reminiscence,  "the  girl's  own  mother,  my  sister  Mary, 
used  to  have  that  little  room  when  she  was  about  sixteen  to 
twenty ;  before  she  began  to  be  delicate.  The  room  was  n't 
much  to  boast  of,  but  she  used  to  come  out  of  it  Sunday 
mornings  dressed  for  church,  looking  like  a  queen  lily." 

"  Poor  lily,"  said  Mrs.  Hannington  softly. 

Her  husband  had  a  way  of  forgetting  how  long  ago  it 
was  that  she  entered  his  family.  The  lily  was  at  their 
wedding  in  her  first  bloom.  She  remembered  the  sad 
years  of  her  decline;  she  had  been  one  of  the  intimate 
group  gathered  to  say  farewell,  when  her  father  took  her 
by  stage  to  Boston.  To  this  day  she  could  recall  the  girl's 
white  face  as  she  looked  back  at  her  home.  It  had  seemed 
the  end  for  her,  but  it  turned  out  to  be  only  another  begin- 
ning ;  whether  worth  what  it  cost  or  not,  Mary's  legacy  to 
her  family,  the  child  of  her  sudden,  tropical  marriage, 
the  orphan  niece  who  was  coming  to  live  with  them,  would 
prove. 

Husband  and  wife  shared  the  same  misgivings  with 
regard  to  this  event.  They  were  ready  to  say  "  better  she 
had  died  at  home";  better  that  her  asphodel  lilies  had 
not  turned  into  orange  flowers.  They  were  afraid  of  the 
late  Captain  Mutrie ;  of  what  he  might  have  done  with 
Mary's  child  in  the  years  of  his  careless  widowerhood, 
after  her  mother's  death. 

The  Hanningtons  were  village  gentry  of  a  plain,  old- 


THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER 


fashioned  type,  but  they  knew  enough  about  English 
society  in  Kingston  to  be  aware  that  Mary  could  not  have 
met  her  merchant  captain  in  any  of  the  houses  her  father's 
introductions  had  opened  to  her.  Inquiries  about  him  per- 
sonally caused  a  great  reserve  whenever  the  marriage  was 
mentioned.  It  was  done,  however;  the  doomed  girl  had 
made  her  last  cast  for  life  and  happiness.  She  lived  to 
see  the  curls  on  her  baby's  head  —  thick  like  its  father's, 
golden  like  her  own  —  grow  long  enough  to  brush  a  pair  of 
sturdy  shoulders  that  had  not  come  from  the  New  Eng- 
land side. 

The  Hanningtons  were  hardy  stock,  but  Dr.  Hanning- 
ton  in  middle  life  had  married  beautiful  Barbara  Ilsey,  of 
a  more  aristocratic,  attenuated  line.  She  bore  him  many 
babes  in  that  northeast  chamber,  —  which  her  grand- 
child and  namesake  throve  in,  loving  its  great  summer 
mornings  and  thrilled  by  its  winter  gales.  But  Madam 
Ilsey  declared  that  sunless  bedroom,  that  chamber  of  the 
winds,  had  shortened  her  daughter's  life  and  cost  her  the 
children  she  lost.  It  was  amazing  that  a  doctor  should  not 
have  better  protected  his  own  —  the  old  saying  of  shoe- 
makers' children  and  blacksmiths'  horses!  Madam  Ilsey 
was  a  spoiled,  excitable  woman  who  often  spoke  the  truth, 
but  seldom  altogether  truly. 

Captain  Mutrie  had  been  away  on  one  of  his  voyages 
when  his  wife  died ;  certain  requests  she  left  him  in  writ- 
ing, referring  to  their  child,  were  mislaid  in  a  slack  West 
Indian  household  and  never  met  his  eyes.  Very  likely  it 
would  have  made  no  difference. 

No  more  was  heard  for  many  years  of  the  little  West 
Indian  offshoot.  Dr.  Hanningtoii  died.  He  had  provided 
against  future  complications,  so  he  excused  himself,  by 


8  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

giving  his  daughter  Mary,  on  her  marriage,  cash  value 
for  what  he  deemed  her  share  in  his  estate.  The  money 
he  raised  on  a  mortgage.  It  was  done  in  wrath :  "  Take 
it,"  his  act  said,  "  and  run  through  with  it  as  you  have 
with  your  life."  Neither  of  his  girls  had  married  to  suit 
him,  but  the  youngest,  who  had  done  this  thing  almost  at 
the  door  of  heaven,  had  shocked  his  heart.  He  had  a 
doctor's  opinion  of  those  days  as  to  her  right  to  marry  at 
all.  The  wild  experiment  would  soon  be  over,  for  her ;  let 
her  use  what  he  had  to  give  her  and  use  it  up.  He  was  not 
providing  for  the  children  of  Captain  Mutrie. 

"  That  branch  might  as  well  be  lopped  off,"  said  the 
hurt,  despondent  old  man. 

The  Hanningtons  were  scattered  now,  like  other  big 
families  in  narrowing  circumstances.  Alvin  was  the  last 
of  his  name  in  Dugdale :  the  least  clever,  least  polished, 
but  most  dependable  of  the  doctor's  sons,  —  on  his  back 
were  loaded  the  burdens  which  the  old  man  could  not 
carry  beyond  the  grave. 

Alvin  had  loved  his  youngest  sister.  The  lopped  branch 
never  ceased  to  haunt  him.  Once,  taking  counsel  of  his 
wife,  he  wrote  to  Captain  Mutrie,  asking  after  his  niece 
who  must  be  now  of  an  age  to  begin  her  schooling :  could 
her  relatives  in  Dugdale  give  him  any  information  or 
help  in  regard  to  New  England  schools,  in  case  he  might 
be  thinking  of  sending  the  little  girl  North  for  her  educa- 
tion, and  a  more  bracing  climate?  (The  respect  of  a  New 
Englander  for  his  climate  is  rather  like  a  small  boy's 
for  the  master's  rod :  he  will  run  his  risks  and  take  his 
chances,  but  if  caught  he  can't  complain:  he  knew  the 
rod  was  there ;  and  he  courts  the  same  risks  and  runs  the 
same  chances  next  time.) 


THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER  9 

Mr.  Hannington's  carefully  considered  letter  obtained  no 
answer.  It  may  have  miscarried,  or  Captain  Mutrie,  having 
nothing  to  say  in  response,  had  been  too  lazy  to  say  it. 

Great  was  Alvin's  surprise,  years  later,  when  his 
niece  herself  addressed  him,  on  paper  perfumed  and 
broadly  edged  with  black.  She  informed  him  of  her 
father's  recent  death  in  phrases  a  grown  person  would 
use.  Reckoning  back,  he  placed  her  age  at  eighteen.  In 
almost  the  next  sentence  she  entered  upon  a  business 
matter,  explained  in  a  letter  enclosed  which  had  been 
found  among  her  father's  papers,  in  his  handwriting,  — 
either  a  copy  or  unsent.  As  it  referred  to  a  family  matter, 
she  had  chosen  to  write  to  her  uncle  direct,  she  said,  rather 
than  consult  a  solicitor.  Mr.  Hannington  smiled  as  he  ran 
his  eye  over  the  enclosure. 

"Is  'solicitor'  English  for  lawyer?"  Silence  asked, 
taking  alarm  at  the  word,  connected  with  family  affairs. 

"  Probably  her  father  did  consult  a  lawyer  and  that 's 
why  he  never  sent  his  own  letter.  He  'd  heard  of  some 
wharf  property  sold  in  Boston  after  Edward's  death, 
when  his  estate  was  settled  up  ;  he  thought  if  he  had  died 
single,  there  might  be  a  share  coming  to  Mary's  daughter. 
It  was  supposing  a  good  many  things  that  did  n't  happen 
to  be  true,  as  I  guess  he  found  out." 

"  Well,  that 's  easily  set  right.  The  poor  girl  will  be 
disappointed,  though.  Does  she  think  the  money  would  be 
withheld?" 

"  I  guess  she  did  n't  think  much  about  it.  She  says  she 
'  knows  nothing  of  business ' '  —  Alvin  consulted  the  letter 
—  "  but  she  does  pretty  well  when  it  comes  to  asking  for 
what  she  wants.  *  If  any  money  from  any  source  should 
be  found  to  be  awaiting  my  mother's  claim,'"  he  read 


10  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

on,  "  '  may  it  not  be  sent  to  her  daughter  directly  ?  My 
father's  sudden  death  left  his  affairs  in  confusion.  The 
law  is  very  slow.  I  have  no  means  to  help  myself  with  at 
present,  —  am  living  on  my  friends,  in  fact,  —  and  one 
hasn't  so  many  after  misfortunes  come,  I  find/ 

"  That 's  a  poor  sort  of  wisdom  at  her  age,  but  she  may 
be  entitled  to  it,"  Alvin  owned  with  charity.  "  Well, 
mother,  —  what  do  you  think  ?  This  is  the  branch  father 
said  had  better  be  lopped  off.  Shall  I  send  her  a  hun- 
dred dollars  and  let  it  go  at  that  ?  "  He  sat  revolving  his 
thumbs  and  waited  with  a  quiet  smile. 

Silence  looked  at  him  absently.  "Your  father  was  a 
wise  man  in  most  things,  but  I  expect  he  must  have  been 
considerably  incensed  when  he  said  that.  I  've  seen  a  tree 
branch  cut  off  so  close  to  the  house  it  belonged  to,  that  it 
fell  on  the  roof  and  broke  a  skylight." 

They  laughed  together  at  the  homely  allegory.  "  You 
think  that  branch  my  father  cut  off  has  struck  somewhere 
near  us  do  you?  Well ;  won't  a  hundred  be  enough  ?" 

"  In  money,  it 's  enough,  and  more  than  you  can  spare." 

"  Well,  come !  say  what  you  think.  I  can't  ask  the 
girl  to  come  and  stay  with  us  if  you  don't  feel  to  want 
her." 

"  I  guess  the  roof  won't  fall  in  if  she  should  come," 
Silence  answered  dryly. 

Each  waited  for  the  other  to  take  the  responsibility  for 
a  step  which  might  well  be  supposed  to  have  long  conse- 
quences. They  did  not  like  the  tone  of  their  niece's  letter, 
but  neither  did  they  wish  to  prejudge  her  in  her  unhappy 
situation.  It  hurt  their  pride  that  one  of  the  family  should 
be  so  placed. 

"What's  the  use  of  asking  me?"  Mrs.  Hannington 


THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER  11 

concluded.  "  You  '11  do  it  anyway,  and  I  don't  see,  myself, 
how  you  can  get  out  of  it." 

As  the  invitation  had  been  an  act  of  duty,  so  the  ac- 
ceptance was  plainly  one  of  necessity.  It  came  after  long 
delay,  after  the  money  was  spent,  perhaps,  and  other  ex- 
pedients tried  in  vain.  Mr.  Hannington  forwarded  a  second 
remittance,  rather  closely  figured  out  (times  were  tight 
with  him  that  year),  for  his  niece's  passage  North,  and  in 
three  days  he  expected  to  go  to  Boston  to  meet  her. 

They  talked  until  after  midnight,  but  were  both  awake 
and  thinking  long  before  the  slow,  November  dawn  showed 
the  objects  in  their  room.  The  choreman  overhead  in  the 
attic  chamber  gat  himself  up  and  into  his  boots  with  large 
clumping  sounds  as  of  cattle  rising  in  their  stalls.  They 
heard  his  accustomed  knock  on  Jane's  door  (Jane-of-all- 
work) ;  then  he  continued  downstairs,  still  on  hoofs  ap- 
parently, like  a  domesticated  faun.  The  noise  did  not  dis- 
turb them. 

It  was  Mr.  Hannington  who  brought  up  the  bedroom 
question  again,  his  wife  grimly  amused  at  his  puzzled 
efforts  to  improve  upon  a  plan  she  had  resigned  herself  to 
with  such  deep,  inward  dissatisfaction. 

"  Why  can't  you  take  the  room  back  of  the  parlor  for 
your  spare  bedroom  ?  " 

"  Because,  in  the  first  place,"  she  answered  tartly,  "  it 
is  n't  to  spare  !  " 

"  I  mean,  of  course,  next  spring." 

"  That 's  mother's  room  !  As  long  as  she  is  in  it,  I  'd 
rather  not  discuss  what  we  are  going  to  do  with  it  as  soon 
as  she  is  gone." 

The  doctor's  old  study,  a  charming  room,  with  a  fire- 
place and  its  own  outside  door  opening  on  a  sunny  porch, 


12  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

had  been  given  to  Mrs.  Trumbull,  to  save  her  the  stairs. 
Grandmother  was,  as  Barbie  said,  a  rather  "  stoutsome" 
old  lady.  This  was  her  second  visit  East,  since  she  moved 
out  to  Buffalo,  following  the  fortunes  of  her  son  William 
and  his  family;  not  only  had  she  followed  them,  she  had 
materially  pushed  them  with  money  of  her  own  to  give 
William  a  start.  Now,  Buffalo  was  building  out  to  meet 
his  land  ;  he  promised  to  become  a  rich  man.  In  doing  so 
much  for  William,  Mrs.  Trumbull  had  always  felt  guilty 
towards  her  daughter,  her  favorite  child.  She  could  not 
put  it  into  words ;  Silence  would  have  been  wounded  if 
her  mother  had  apologized  :  "  It 's  his  only  chance  ;  he  '11 
never  do  anything  here ;  I  will  make  it  up  to  you  if  he 
succeeds."  She  made  it  up,  by  loving  best  the  child  she 
was  parted  from.  She  boasted  a  good  deal,  however,  be- 
fore her  son-in-law,  of  her  business-like  hardness  with 
William :  "  Oh,  I  don't  let  him  keep  me  waiting !  he 
pays  me  good  interest  right  on  the  nail."  She  had  means 
to  dress  well  and  to  travel,  as  her  Eastern  visits  showed  ; 
but  now  the  years  began  to  count.  She  was  seventy-six, 
a  wonderful  old  lady  of  her  age ;  but  there  was  no  like- 
lihood that  she  would  ever  make  the  trip  again  :  hence  her 
daughter's  sensitiveness  on  the  point  of  looking  to  its 
close,  in  a  matter  of  house  convenience.  It  was  more  than 
that,  she  knew,  but  the  subject  had  nagged  her  enough 
already. 

"  We  shall  need  a  good  spare  room  this  winter,"  she 
explained  less  petulantly.  "  I  want  to  ask  one  or  two  of 
mother's  Valley  friends  to  visit  us  while  she  is  here.  Old 
people  can't  be  tucked  around  anywhere." 

"  I  still  say,"  -  —  Mr.  Hannington  inserted  a  middle 
finger  in  either  loop  of  his  boot-leg,  —  "I  still  think  you 


THE  NORTHEAST  CHAMBER  13 

ought  not  to  put  those  girls  together  in  the  same  bedroom 
unless  Barbie  wants  it  so.  What  does  she  say  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  Barbie  wants.  She  does  n't  say 
anything." 

"  Much  the  best  way  !  Well,  I  don't  seem  to  be  helping 
much,"  he  yielded. 

His  wife  took  up  the  word  brightly,  to  comfort  him. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  how  you  can  help  !  Go  down  to  Harvey's 
and  pick  out  a  good-sized  air-tight  stove  to  put  up  in  the 
girls'  room." 

"  The  « girls'  room  ' !  "  Barbie  echoed. 

She  had  been  waiting  in  the  dining-room  for  breakfast 
when  her  mother  entered,  speaking.  The  little  smile  on 
her  face  remained  fixed,  abashed  by  a  flood  of  crimson. 
It  was  not  the  custom  of  this  family  to  kiss  all  around 
when  they  met  each  morning,  but  Mrs.  Hannington  went 
over  directly  to  her  daughter  and  kissed  her,  without  a 
word. 

After  worship,  grace  was  said,  and  Barbie  burst  in 
fluently :  "  Are  you  going  to  put  up  a  stove  in  —  in  our 
room  —  when  Stella  comes  ?  " 

"I  think  we  must,"  said  Mrs.  Hannington.  "She'll 
feel  the  change  very  much  this  first  winter ;  her  mother 
was  delicate." 

"  The  wind  must  be  tempered  to  the  shorn  lamb,"  said 
the  deacon  ;  he  meant  it  —  not  piously,  though  the  com- 
monplace jarred  upon  his  women. 

"  Why  can't  we  use  the  old  fireplace  ?  Is  it  bricked  up, 
father?" 

"  No,"  he  replied  ;  Mrs.  Hannington  adding  that  stoves 
heat  up  so  much  quicker  and  save  firewood.  Barbie  let  the 
subject  drop. 


14  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

Harvey's  men  came  next  day  and  left  the  stove  and  a 
sheet-iron  fireboard  and  their  tracks  on  the  stair  carpet ; 
it  was  snowing  outside.  After  them  Barbie  rushed  up  to 
face  disaster.  What  she  saw  first  was  her  rejected  fire- 
board  leaned  against  the  passage  wall  on  its  way  up-gar- 
ret.  It  was  only  a  square  pine  back,  faced  with  wallpaper 
of  an  old  English  design,  a  landscape  supposed  to  be  in 
China:  till  this  moment  she  had  not  known  how  she 
cared  for  the  old  thing ;  nor,  till  she  regarded  the  new 
one  in  its  place,  did  she  realize  how  it  had  suited  its 
frame,  the  white-painted  mantelpiece  and  the  soft,  dull 
pinks  of  her  faded  ingrain  carpet.  It  had  been  the  drop- 
curtain,  never  lifted,  of  those  unseen  dramas  on  stormy 
nights  performed  by  the  wind  in  dialogue  with  that 
deep-chested  old  tragedian,  the  East  Chimney.  In  pauses 
the  chimney  would  make  you  think  it  was  speaking 
alone,  mouthing  and  whispering  and  ranting  to  itself. 
Often,  the  stage  would  be  the  house  roof ;  you  knew  it  was 
a  bough  of  the  big  elm  that  sounded  like  cordage  dragged 
across  a  deck ;  that  no  men's  feet  could  be  up  there,  nor 
large  bodies  moving  softly  down  the  slope  of  the  kitchen 
shingles,  but  the  creepy  effect,  as  you  snuggled  under  the 
bedclothes,  was  the  same. 

These  were  days  when  the  northeast  chamber  had  for 
its  small  occupant  one  face  by  day  and  another  by  night ; 
when  she  lived  there  in  a  state  of  fearsome  joy  —  like  a 
little  Pysche  in  the  Palace  of  the  Unseen.  She  was  en- 
chanted by  her  solitary  state,  but  at  any  moment  there 
might  be  a  nameless  terror  to  reckon  with. 

In  one  pang,  Barbie  felt  that  a  piece  of  her  childhood 
was  gone.  "  At  least  the  rats  shall  not  gnaw  it !  "  And  she 
searched  the  house  for  large  wrapping-paper  and  lugged 


THE  NORTHEAST   CHAMBER  15 

the  hngh  bumping  bundle  up-garret  herself  and  spent  a 
quarter-hour  suspending  it  by  strings  from  the  rafters. 

Her  mother  was  now  calling ;  she  ran  down  and  they 
met  in  the  passage  outside  of  her  closed  door. 

"  Where  is  the  fireboard  ?  " 

Barbie  explained  sufficiently:  Mrs.  Hanuington  was 
not  obtuse. 

"  Well,  don't  go  in  just  yet.  I  've  opened  all  the 
windows." 

"  What  for  ?  "  asked  Barbie. 

She  went  into  her  room  to  see,  —  Silence  following, 
flushed  and  depressed.  They  were  seized  by  a  smother- 
ing, greasy,  gaseous  smell  mingled  with  fresh  wood  smoke 
which  the  wind  was  expelling  through  the  open  windows. 
A  little  dry  snow  drifted  in,  lightly  sprinkling  the  carpet. 
In  front  of  the  hand-carved  mantelpiece,  which  seemed  to 
flatten  itself  against  the  chimney  repellently,  stood  a 
squat,  iron  monster  on  crocodile  feet,  panting,  sucking  its 
own  flames.  It  stood  on  a  square  of  new,  chequered  oil- 
cloth, which  went  well  enough  with  blackened  sheet-iron, 
but  not  with  old  English  ingrains  dulled  with  use.  These 
things  were  not  matters  of  deep  moment  at  that  period, 
New  England  being  moral  and  ethical  rather  than  artis- 
tic, but  certain  persons  had  the  instinct  to  feel  them  out. 
Mrs.  Hannington  saw  the  consternation  in  her  daughter's 
eye. 

"  I  thought  of  telling  them  to  put  it  wrongside  up ;  the 
Tinder  side  is  plain  brown." 

"  I  wish  you  had,"  said  Barbie. 

"  Next  time  we  put  it  down  we  '11  do  so." 

"Will  it  always  smell  like  this?"  Barbie  seized  upon 
the  odor  savagely,  to  cover  her  general  despair ;  years  of 


16  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

that  oilcloth  and  that  stove  stretched  before  her.  They 
stood  for  years  of  other  things. 

"  It 's  only  the  fresh  blacking  burning  off.  And  they 
wanted  to  see  how  it  would  draw,"  Mrs.  Hannington 
gasped,  breathing  through  her  handkerchief,  "so  they 
built  a  fire  —  and  forgot  the  damper  in  the  pipe." 

"  Oh,  there 's  a  damper  in  the  pipe !  I  must  remember 
that."  Barbie  began  to  giggle  hysterically.  "  Come  out, 
mother,  and  let  it  go  on  and  do  its  worst  alone." 

In  the  passage  Silence  pleaded  anxiously :  "  You  '11  find 
it  very  comfortable  to  dress  by.  I  used  to  worry  about  you 
up  here,  those  awful  winter  mornings.  I  don't  know  why 
we  never  did  it  for  you." 

"Well,  /know!  "  said  Barbie. 

"  Next  summer  it  will  come  down.  Then  you  '11  have 
your  room  just  as  it  used  to  be." 

"  It  is  n't  the  room  !  "  said  Barbie,  choking.  "  But  it 's 
right,  mother.  I  've  had  too  many  things  just  as  I  wanted." 
She  was  taller  than  her  mother ;  she  had  to  bend  to  kiss 
her  cheek,  clasping  her  tensely  to  feel  herself  close  to  the 
best  thing  in  life  which  now  she  must  learn  to  share  with 
a  stranger. 

"  Of  course,  it's  right,"  said  Silence  sternly.  "  You 
don't  suppose  father  and  I  did  it  because  we  wanted  to ! 
Parents  can  be  selfish  as  well  as  children.  I  never  felt  a 
gift  to  mother  any  girl  except  my  own,  but  I  've  got  to  do 
it,  and  you  must  help  me,  daughter." 

This  was  said  with  clear  intention.  Mrs.  Hannington 
had  made  observations  while  wrestling  with  the  stove  in 
Barbie's  room :  she  saw  where  the  hitch  lay.  Of  all  her 
material  comforts,  the  girl  had  been  generous.  She  had 
washed  her  dainty  toilet-covers  with  her  own  hands  and 


THE  NOKTHEAST   CHAMBER  17 

given  over  the  dressing-table  to  her  room-mate,  mounting 
a  swing-glass  on  a  chest  of  drawers  for  her  own  use ;  and 
made  the  action  simple  by  saying,  "I  am  tall  and  I 
never  do  my  hair  sitting  " ;  she  had  been  over-generous 
with  closet-hooks  and  bureau-drawers,  but  every  bit  of 
herself  she  withheld.  The  room  was  stripped  of  personal- 
ity. Mrs.  Hannington  looked  around,  missing  one  after 
another  of  the  objects  Barbie  had  built  into  her  nest, 
some  whose  significance  the  mother  understood,  others 
that  she  smiled  at  in  silence.  The  copy  of  a  Kempis  which 
she  had  placed  on  Barbie's  bedside  table,  the  first  night 
she  slept  in  her  own  room,  was  gone  out  of  sight;  also  a 
broken  skate-strap  tied  with  a  ribbon,  that  had  hung  since 
winter  before  last  against  the  girl's  looking-glass.  The  rib- 
bon was  plainly  one  of  Barbie's ;  the  strap  fitted  a  skate 
of  male  size  which  Mrs.  Hannington  suspected  had  once 
belonged  to  Jimmy  Yardley. 

So ;  the  decks  were  cleared.  "  She  does  n't  know  if  it 's 
a  friend  or  an  enemy  who  is  coming  into  her  life,  I  sup- 
pose," the  mother  sighed ;  "  it  is  the  instinct  of  self- 
defence."  She  was  battling  with  the  same  instinct  in 
herself,  only,  it  included  her  offspring. 


CHAPTER  II 

TWO   DAUGHTERS   OF  ONE  KACE 

WITH  Stella  Mutrie's  arrival  the  first  fear  was  over. 
She  looked  healthy,  to  say  the  least ;  —  pale,  from  living 
in  those  darkened  houses  that  narrow  with  their  shuttered 
balconies  the  glaring  streets  of  Kingston,  but  not  meagre 
nor  drooping :  her  complexion  reminded  one  of  Southern 
flowers,  the  velvet  white  of  a  magnolia  blossom  or  the 
over-scented  tuberose  ;  loops  of  golden  curls  fell  against 
her  temples,  and  a  massive  ten-strand  braid  crowned  her 
with  the  support  of  a  Spanish  comb.  Her  black  dresses 
had  gigot  sleeves  and  wide  white  shoulder  capes  ;  they 
were  very  modish  and  looked  expensive.  There  was  no 
suggestion  of  the  shorn  lamb  about  her  except  her  sensi- 
tiveness to  cold. 

Thus,  the  stove,  which  had  been  domiciled  for  her  sake, 
became  at  once  her  idol  and  a  grovelling  necessity  of  her 
unacclimated  being.  The  presumption  had  been  that  "  the 
girls  "  would  take  turns  laying  their  fire  overnight,  a  task 
which  delayed  getting  into  bed  when  nights  were  coldest; 
but  Stella's  fires  would  never  "go  " :  hence,  no  good  hus- 
band for  her !  —  such  was  the  popular  fallacy.  Barbie's 
fires  went  at  the  first  spurt  of  the  match;  but  Grand- 
mother Trumbull  hastened  to  moderate  her  hopes  by  set- 
ting forth  that  no  young  woman  need  build  on  the  sort 
of  intelligence  required  by  these  modern  stoves,  —  nothing 
but  iron  boxes!  A  fire  on  the  hearth  was  the  orthodox 
test,  from  the  days  when  the  saying  began.  Your  wasteful 


TWO   DAUGHTERS   OF   ONE   KACE       19 

virgin  used  too  much  splitwood  and  kindlings ;  a  foolish 
one  went  out  of  her  way  to  lay  them  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  artificial  air  currents  ;  a  hasty  disposition  piled  on  logs 
and  discouraged  the  struggling  flames.  There  were  ways 
enough  of  putting  out  a  fire  ;  only  the  right  way  to  mend 
or  make  one.  Barbie  would  then  speak  up  for  those  un- 
promising young  firemakers  —  she  could  name  them  — who 
had  hoodwinked  destiny  and  got  the  good  husband  without 
qualifying  for  him.  This  was  a  girl's  way  of  slighting 
prophecy  too  plainly  put  forth  in  the  interests  of  thrift, 
marriage  appealing  to  young  minds  on  livelier  grounds. 

It  was  Sunday  morning.  Barbie,  awakening  at  the 
usual  hour,  had  lain  listening  for  the  clock  downstairs  to 
strike  seven.  There  were  no  curtains  to  the  mahogany 
four-poster  :  housekeepers  were  beginning  to  say  that  wash 
curtains  made  too  much  work  and  stuff  ones  were  stuffy, 
but  scarcely  any  one  except  reformers  and  cranks  had 
reached  the  hardihood  of  open  windows  at  night  with  the 
mercury  below  zero.  There  were  in  the  room,  besides  a 
chintz-covered  easy-chair  and  a  small  rocker,  two  straight- 
backed  mahogany  Sheratons,  uncomfortable  but  choice, 
that  matched  the  table  and  bedstead ;  one  stood  on  Stella's 
side  of  the  bed,  heaped  with  her  peelings  of  the  night  before : 
to  compare  her  garments  with  Barbie's  folded  on  her  chair 
by  the  frost-blinded  window,  was  like  comparing  the  crum- 
pled leaves  a  fig  tree  flings  down  with  the  neatly  sifted 
needles  of  the  pine. 

On  week  days,  Barbie  awoke  to  the  sound  of  her  father's 
voice  below  stairs :  "  Bound  up,  Barbie,  bound  up !  "  but  on 
Sundays,  with  an  extra  half -hour's  grace,  she  was  expected 
to  "  bound  up  "  without  that  rouse  to  the  conquest  of 
creaturely  comfort. 


20  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Out  she  sprang,  when  the  fell  moment  came  to  have  it 
over  with ;  closed  the  passage  door  and  set  a  match  to 
the  pine  shaving  hanging  from  the  stove's  square  lip  like 
a  lazy  man's  pipe ;  placed  the  frozen  water-jug  near,  but 
not  too  near,  the  zone  of  heat  expansion  and  tip-toed 
across  the  icy  carpet  to  the  window  for  a  look  at  the 
weather.  No  peep-hole  scraped  in  the  frost  curtain  (after 
warming  the  spot  with  one's  breath)  was  needed  to  advise 
her  of  the  state  of  things  outside :  her  little  nose,  cold  as 
a  nipped  rosebud  above  the  bed  covers  when  she  woke,  had 
reported  the  matter.  It  was  still  and  clear ;  a  hard  Jan- 
uary freeze  without  wind  or  snow  had  made  skaters'  ice  ; 
and  this  was  Sabbath  and  Jimmy  Yardley's  last  day  at 
home! 

He  had  been  graduated  from  Yale  the  year  before,  and 
finished  the  summer,  by  his  father's  advice,  making  trips  to 
manufacturing  towns  to  study  the  best  methods  in  cotton- 
milling,  which  he  regretted  was  to  be  his  occupation ;  one 
of  those  chilling  compromises  young  men  are  sometimes 
forced  into  when  they  cannot  please  themselves  without 
too  much  wreck  and  ruin  to  the  feelings  of  others  :  in 
Jimmy's  case,  an  old  father  whom  he  loved  despite  their 
habit  of  never  quite  understanding  each  other.  He  had 
been  lately  loafing  around  home,  as  he  called  it,  waiting 
for  a  certain  opening  which  had  opened.  This  day  his 
boyhood  ended.  To-morrow  he  would  set  out  to  begin  his 
apprenticeship  to  business. 

Barbie  went  down  on  her  knees  as  custom  directed, 
though  in  no  mood  for  prayer.  Still,  one  must  be  just  even 
to  a  Providence  which  sees  in  secret  and  openly  makes  use 
of  what  it  has  seen.  Her  spirit  was  proud,  but  conscience 
humbled  her  by  degrees. 


TWO   DAUGHTERS   OF  ONE  RACE       21 

Why  had  she  raged  at  the  weather  —  rain  and  slush 
and  sleet  and  more  rain,  as  the  precious  days  of  Jimmy's 
last  boy  holiday  flew  by?  Why  had  she  longed,  nay, 
prayed  for  cold  which  Stella  hated,  for  skating  which 
left  her  out  ?  Such  thoughts  are  clearly  to  be  paid  for, 
and  the  sooner  the  better :  it  is  the  Busy  One  who  chuckles 
to  see  a  sinner's  account  overdrawn,  while  he  waits  for 
bankruptcy  and  the  chance  to  bring  in  his  fatal  lien.  It 
was  a  close  calculation,  an  awful  book  of  reckoning,  but  it 
produced  a  race  of  men  and  women  unparalleled  in  history. 

Most  persons  in  Dugdale  would  have  said  that  Barbie 
Hannington  was  about  the  whitest  lamb  of  the  Rev. 
Recompense  Yardley's  Congregational  flock.  She  had  in- 
herited the  brows  and  smile  of  a  sainted  great-grandmother 
whose  over-stock  of  virtues,  justly  celebrated,  had  not 
robbed  her  of  a  delicate  mundane  beauty  in  her  own  type ; 
oval  face  and  sweet  narrow  eyes  and  hair  of  infantile  fine- 
ness, so  fine  it  seemed  unable  to  retain  the  crudity  of 
color  and  was  ashen  blonde ;  and  the  distinctive  mouth 
of  a  nature  that  can  both  feel  and  repress  feeling.  Barbie 
was  half  the  time  striving  to  live  up  to  her  unearned  in- 
crement of  family  piety,  the  other,  despairing  because  she 
could  n't,  but  never  at  any  time  as  good  as  she  looked. 

Now,  since  Stella  came,  it  had  been  her  thankless  task 
to  prod  and  prevent  another  —  no  younger  than  herself 
and  armed  with  a  cool  irony  of  self-sufficiency  towards 
those  virtues  that  bore  Barbie  down.  She  knew  by  daily 
experience  just  how  long  beforehand  you  had  to  begin  in 
order  to  get  the  cousin  up  in  any  reasonable  time  for  even 
breakfast ;  prayers  were  no  longer  expected  of  her.  She 
was  a  guest ;  she  had  no  rights  in  the  house,  therefore 
she  must  have  privileges.  Sunday  was  hardest,  when  every 


22  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

moment  downstairs  counted  before  meeting.  Barbie  suf- 
fered both  ways :  for  her  mother  and  the  sore-tried  help, 
and  for  herself,  acting  the  part  of  the  woman  whose  price 
is  above  rubies,  who  rises  betimes  and  looks  well  to  the 
ways  of  her  slug-a-bed  sister. 

"  Come,  Stella,  come !  I  can't  give  you  another  minute. 
I  am  going  down  now.  Come,  it 's  Sunday,  remember.  Do 
turn  over  and  see  how  late  it  is.  All  your  fire  will  burn  out." 

This  last  argument  carried  some  weight  apparently.  A 
sleek  hand  and  wrist  dragged  a  pair  of  roughened  yellow 
braids  from  beneath  the  sleeper's  shoulders  and  flung  them 
over  her  pillow ;  they  fell  like  loaded  whips. 

"  I  'm  not  going  to  church,  you  know,  and  I  don't  care 
for  breakfast,  so  why  bother?  " 

"  Well,"  Barbie  answered  briskly,  "  if  you  change  your 
mind  about  breakfast,  there 's  plenty  you  can  find  to  eat. 
I  should  think,  though,  you  'd  want  to  go  to  church  this 
Sunday." 

"  Why  this  Sunday?" 

"  I  told  you ;  you  've  forgotten.  Mr.  Yardley  will  speak 
about  his  Oregon  Mission  in  the  spring.  It 's  almost  his 
resignation  sermon !  " 

"  Bless  you !  what  do  I  care  about  his  resignation  — 
poor  old  man  !  I  have  n't  an  idea  where  or  what  his  Oregon 
is." 

Barbie  moved  about  tidying  the  room.  "  What  do  you 
want  I  should  say  downstairs?" 

"  Say  ?  I  've  nothing  -to  say." 

"  Mother  will  come  running  up,  of  course.  She  '11  think 
you  must  be  sick  if  you  can't  get  up  for  meeting." 

"  I  can  get  up,  but  I  don't  see  the  use."  Stella  turned 
her  back  to  the  room  and  a  warm  shrug  to  the  teaser. 


TWO  DAUGHTERS   OF  ONE  RACE       23 

Barbie  waited  another  interval.  "  It  seems  almost  dis- 
respectful for  any  of  us  to  stay  away,  to-day.  It  was  given 
out  last  Sabbath  what  he  wants  to  tell  us.  It 's  his  great 
plan,  and  why  he  is  breaking  up  his  whole  life  here,  after 
all  these  years." 

"  His  plans  don't  concern  me,  my  dear.  Why  should  I 
walk  a  mile,  and  freeze  to  death  — 

"Hardly  half  a  mile!" 

"  —  Half,  then,  to  listen  to—  Oh;  do  be  off!  You 
can't  get  me  up  short  of  pouring  cold  water  on  me." 

Hearing  no  further  sound  of  departure,  Stella  turned 
on  one  elbow  and  looked  at  her  cousin. 

"  There  you  are  still !  "  she  laughed,  and  lay  down 
again. 

Barbie  was  dressed  for  church,  having  tied  on  an  apron 
to  protect  her  blue  merino.  There  was  nothing  difficult  or 
aesthetic  about  that  blue,  —  just  blue  ;  it  showed  hard  in 
the  cold  snow  light,  but  fairness  like  hers  could  bear  it. 
Her  curl-papers  in  a  quaint  way  were  becoming  too ;  they 
suggested  those  sculptured  lumps  investing  the  brow  of 
a  Greek  antique  head.  Her  forehead  was  modelled  on  a 
more  feminine  plan  than  the  vast  Hannington  brow ;  she 
had  snatched  that  grace  from  the  stout,  brown,  low-built 
Trumbulls,  but  she  had  missed  the  Trumbull  hair  which 
curled  naturally.  Still,  her  own  was  so  angel- soft  and 
light,  a  few  minutes  in  papers  shaped  it  for  all  day ;  but 
Barbie,  unconscionable  as  to  neatness,  preferred  to  risk  a 
rather  cork-screw  effect  sooner  than  have  her  curls  "  come 
down  "  in  what  she  called  strings.  Pretty  sight  as  she  was, 
in  spite  of  mid-nineteenth-century  fashions,  there  was 
something  about  her  that  provoked  her  cousin's  merri- 
ment. Perhaps  it  was  the  perplexity  in  the  fine  Ilsey  eye- 


24  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

brows  cast  upwards.  It  was  impossible  for  Stella  to  measure 
the  seriousness  of  some  of  Barbie's  obligations :  she  had 
never  dreamt  of  a  life  so  beset  with  moral  responsibility. 

"  Now,  I  want  to  know  what  you  are  waiting  for  ?  I  be- 
lieve it 's  an  excuse !  Say  I  am  sick,  then." 

"  Stella!  I  can't  contradict  you." 

"  You  need  n't,  dear :  the  fib  is  all  mine.  I  used  n't  to 
have  to  tell  them  about  lying  in  bed,  but  if  it 's  necessary, 
why,  go  ahead  and  say  I  'm  sick." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Barbie,  desperately  resolved  to  keep 
her  Sunday  temper,  "in  that  town  where  you  lived  I 
could  n't  have  gone  to  their  church  as  I  am  ?  I  should 
have  had  to  be  in  black,  should  n't  I,  with  some  kind  of  a 
shawl  over  my  head  ?  " 

"  They  are  not  all  Catholics,  by  any  means :  we  went 
to  the  English  church  just  as  you  go." 

"  Oh,  you  did  go  to  church  then  !  " 

"  Sometimes  ;  it  made  no  difference." 

"  That  you  see  is  just  the  difference !  Here  everybody 
has  to  go  to  some  church." 

"  Not  everybody  ;  Jimmy  Yardley,  for  instance?  "  Stella 
laughed,  and  Barbie  colored  in  spite  of  herself. 

"  Jimmy  's  an  exception." 

"  We  quite  understand  that !  " 

"  He  gave  up  a  great  thing  to  please  his  father.  He  has 
always  been  crazy  to  go  to  sea,  but  he  gave  it  up  because 
his  father  felt  so  about  it.  I  think  Mr.  Yardley  wants  to 
let  him  get  his  breath  a  little  before  he  bears  down  too 
hard  about  something  else." 

"  4  Something  else ' !  Barbie,  you  reprobate !  is  that  how 
you  speak  of  our  Jimmy's  salvation  ?  You  'd  better  look 
out  or  you  '11  be  slipping  back  where  he  is." 


TWO  DAUGHTERS  OF  ONE  RACE      25 

"  I  meant  just  what  I  said ;  not  only  uniting  with  the 
church,  but  other  things.  He  reads  books  that  mother 
would  n't  want  me  to  read.  She  is  right  and  he 's  right 
too.  We  are  all  one  way  of  thinking  here,  and  always 
have  been ;  we  can't  make  allowances.  Where  you  were 
brought  up  you  must  have  seen  all  sorts  of  ways  of  liv- 
ing?" 

"  Well,  I  never  was  brought  up,  you  know.  I  lived  in 
a  houseful  of  lazy  darkies,  and  the  housekeeper  —  she 
was  n't  much  like  Aunt  Silence !  "  Stella  kicked  her  feet 
free  from  the  weight  of  the  cotton-wool  comforter  and 
clasped  her  hands  beneath  her  head.  With  the  light  shin- 
ing level  with  her  chin,  casting  the  shadow  of  her  thick 
golden  lashes  up  against  her  brows,  she  was  a  perfect 
beauty,  Barbie  thought,  though  her  features  lacked  a  good 
deal  of  perfection. 

"  Is  there  any  of  that  honey  salve  left  up  here  ?  " 

Barbie  fetched  a  small  china  box  of  it  made  after  Grandma 
Trumbull's  recipe. 

"  Thanks,"  said  Stella.  —  "  There  was  n't  a  rule  about 
the  place  I  could  break,  if  I  tried.  We  did  n't  live  by  rule." 

"  I  see,"  said  Barbie,  watching  Stella's  narrow  finger- 
nail plane  off  a  modicum  of  the  salve  that  smelled  of  fresh 
honey-comb  and  rose-leaves.  "  It  must  come  hard.  But 
you'd  be  happier,  don't  you  think  —  ?" 

The  girl's  answer  was  a  groan  ;  her  lips  being  shut  tight 
to  receive  the  emollient.  Barbie  turned  away  and  began 
to  force  wood  into  the  stove,  unshipped  the  lid  of  the  hot- 
water  kettle  to  ease  its  boiling  fury,  and  closed  down  the 
draught  to  a  crack. 

"  There !  Now  you  '11  do  till  noon.  The  trouble  with  us 
is  we  've  never  been  out  of  Dugdale,  Mass.  I  'm  begin- 


26  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

ning  to  find  it  out. — What  was  she  like,  your  house- 
keeper ?" 

"Oh,  I  can't  tell  you  — you!"  said  Stella,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  tell  minutely,  for  the  fun  of  shocking  Barbie. 
"  She  was  a  mestiza,  a  person  who  is  nearly  white  and 
sometimes  very  pretty ;  she  was,  when  she  was  tidy.  She 
wore  a  much-embroidered  chemise  and  not  much  of  a  pet- 
ticoat, and  gold  beads  and  bare  feet.  Sometimes  she  put 
on  a  low-necked  yellow  silk  and  French  slippers.  She 
told  lies,  but  she  could  get  up  a  ten-course  dinner  and 
mix  every  drink  that  was  ever  heard  of.  She'd  been 
educated." 

"Stella!" 

"  Well,  dear,  if  you  don't  like  the  dregs  of  my  past,  why 
do  you  stir  'em  up?  I  may  be  able  to  help  my  future,  but 
I  can't  help  my  past.  Come,  kiss  me,  you  blue-and-white 
Old  Innocence !  you  are  the  youngest  thing,  and  you  are 
the  oldest !  You  know  nothing  at  all,  and  you  know  the 
most  frightful  lot  that  don't  belong  to  you  and  certainly 
don't  to  me !  I  know  I  'm  a  sarpint  —  I  'm  a  thankless 
adder ;  and  I  shall  bite  like  one  if  you  don't  be  off  and 
take  your  scandalous  perfections  out  of  my  sight;  you 
positively  blind  me ! " 

Stella  would  often  run  on  like  this,  mocking  at  what  she 
pretended  to  admire ;  and  Barbie,  conscious  of  her  own 
hapless  attitude,  felt  the  sting  of  words  which  a  smile  or 
a  careless  kiss  were  meant  to  sweeten,  but  seldom  did. 
Barbie  had  not  been  brought  up  to  kiss  anybody  on  slight 
occasions. 

Skating  was  not  properly  one  of  the  sports  for  girls  in 
New  England,  in  the  forties.  Barbie  had  the  luck,  though, 
to  be  an  exception,  because  she  had  a  sensible  mother ; 


TWO   DAUGHTERS   OF  ONE   RACE       27 

and  possibly  the  Hanningtons  could  do  things  on  the 
strength  of  their  local  position  for  which  others  might  have 
been  talked  about. 

She  had  learned  on  Jimmy  Yardley's  outgrown  skates, 
he  having  no  sister  and  she  no  brother.  His  arm  had 
supported  her  through  the  tottering  stage  —  not  in  all 
respects  like  a  brother.  Afterwards,  when  rhythm  was 
established  between  them,  it  was  hands  across,  the  mutual 
free  stride,  a  marriage  of  true  muscles  and  true  minds. 
The  air  was  the  pure,  unrealized  cold  of  skating  weather, 
the  time  —  after  school  generally,  approaching  sunset,  or 
the  intense  twilight  of  a  short  winter's  day ;  colors  mar- 
vellously blending  above  the  horizon  and  all  remaining 
light  forced  down  upon  the  fields  of  white  below ;  and  the 
young  faces  beholding  each  other's  fresh  beauty  on  this 
startling  background.  The  hour  for  parting  was  no  chap- 
erone's  affair  ;  the  girl  herself  must  remember  and  keep  it, 
in  spite  of  the  boy  and  his  longing  looks  and  the  pressure 
of  his  hard  young  hand. 

Barbie's  hours  of  this  sort  with  Jimmy  Yardley  began 
about  the  winter  she  was  fifteen,  and  Jimmy,  after  miss- 
ing one  vacation  through  a  trip  to  the  South,  came  home 
so  tall  she  had  to  change  the  level  of  her  eyes  to  meet  his 
with  the  new  shyness  in  them.  Barbie  did  not  realize  the 
change  in  herself,  which  took  his  breath  away.  Then  the 
shyness  by  fits  became  boldness.  Then,  last  holidays,  — 
that  last  evening  on  the  ice,  —  she  forgot  the  hour  and 
was  late  to  tea;  but  mother  merely  looked  at  her.  At 
bedtime  she  came  up  on  some  excuse  to  Barbie's  room 
and  kissed  her  good-night  with  another  look  that  asked, 
"  Have  you  anything  to  tell  mother  ? "  Barbie  had 
nothing  that  could  be  put  in  words,  but  she  gave  herself 


28  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

to  be  kissed  again  —  a  kiss  which  both  of  them  under- 
stood —  how,  is  a  mother's  business. 

Mrs.  Hannington  did  not  sleep  that  night.  A  beautiful 
thing  which  she  might  have  welcomed  later  had  begun, 
she  feared,  too  soon.  Barbie,  of  an  age  to  listen,  must  wait 
till  Jimmy  was  free  to  speak ;  yet  nature,  she  guessed,  had 
betrayed  them  to  each  other.  The  situation  was  unfair  to 
both.  The  just  woman  had  no  blame  for  Jimmy  more 
than  her  own  child,  though  he  was  one-and-twenty,  within 
a  year  then  of  his  graduation ;  that  was  a  man  in  those 
days.  She  comforted  herself,  thinking  that  he  had  no 
long  bondage  to  poverty  before  him:  his  father  had 
strong  theories  on  the  subject  of  a  young  man  and  his 
work,  but  Mr.  Yardley  was  more  than  "  well  off,"  and 
Jimmy  had  property  of  his  own  from  his  mother. 

This  winter  she  perceived  there  was  a  change.  If  she 
had  hunted  for  a  simile  she  might  have  said,  "you 
mustn't  stop  churning  just  as  your  butter  has  begun  to 
come."  If  you  leave  it  at  that  delicate  moment  it  goes 
back.  Now  it  was  a  question  if  Barbie's  butter  would 
ever  come.  The  weather,  as  she  knew,  had  been  against 
her.  Evenings  the  child  no  longer  saw  Jimmy  alone ;  and 
Stella  was  so  lovely  by  lamplight ! 

No  one  supposes  these  New  England  girls,  with  their 
pure  brows  and  reticent  eyes,  were  bloodless,  immune 
from  jealousy,  and  other  passions  they  knew  their  mothers 
never  had,  and  so  little  could  understand  that  it  would  be 
like  a  form  of  spiritual  indecency  to  lay  such  confessions 
at  her  feet ;  and  besides,  it  might  not  be  true.  Jealousy, 
Barbie  informed  herself  out  of  a  good  habit  of  thought, 
is  a  thing  you  need  not  be  on  speaking  terms  with  unless 
you  prefer  low  company ;  yet  the  struggle  to  get  rid  of 


TWO   DAUGHTEES  OF  ONE   RACE       29 

the  pushing  thing  may  hurt  one's  maiden  self-respect  and 
pride  of  detachment. 

Stella  Mutrie,  in  spite  of  her  peculiarities  as  they  were 
called  in  Dugdale,  had  been  accepted  for  her  mother's 
sake,  though  freely  criticized  for  her  own.  So  long  as 
those  excellent  people,  Alvin  and  Silence,  were  not  pained 
by  hearing  what  was  said  about  their  niece,  the  village 
might  speak  its  mind.  She  wore  low  necks  and  jewelry 
with  her  fresh  mourning,  and  spoke  of  her  deceased 
father,  the  captain,  as  if  he  had  just  stepped  into  the  next 
room.  Every  one  knew  it  was  "too  soon"  for  her  to  go 
out :  she  was  asked  with  Barbie,  —  no  one  expecting  her 
to  accept,  yet  she  did ;  and  though  she  joined  none  of  the 
games  that  with  church  members  took  the  place  of  dancing, 
her  reason  seemed  to  be  a  frank  preference  for  the  warm 
corner  by  the  stove,  where  shortly  a  circle  of  flushed-faced 
youths  would  gather,  to  the  detriment  of  the  games. 

She  distributed  pangs  about  equally  between  girls  and 
young  men  that  winter.  Parents  were  "  worked  up  "  about 
her;  one  or  two  promising  love-affairs  went  the  wrong 
way.  In  a  community  made  up  largely  of  marriage  and 
blood-relations  and  distinguished  for  sincerity  of  speech, 
the  young  stranger  in  their  midst  could  hardly  be  unaware 
of  the  distrust  she  excited,  nor  fail  to  smile  with  quite 
excusable  cynicism  at  its  being  so  generally  confined  to 
her  own  sex. 

The  young  men  of  the  village  haunted  the  Hannington 
block,  hoping  not  to  meet  each  other  in  Alvin's  front 
parlor ;  his  consumption  of  firewood  that  winter  was  dis- 
tinctly increased  by  the  persistence  of  Stella's  admirers. 
They  might  have  been  called  Barbie's,  but  Barbie  knew ;  she 
could  not  escape  it  herself,  that  breath  of  allurement  and 


30  A 'PICKED  COMPANY 

mystery  from  the  lazy  South.    It  pained  and  sickened 
her,  but  she  owned  its  power. 

As  for  Jimmy  Yardley,  in  a  place  where  neither  lazi- 
ness nor  mystery  had  been  tolerated  for  upwards  of  a 
hundred  years,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  the  high- 
hearted boy,  baulked  of  his  dreams  in  one  direction, 
should  fall  to  dreaming  again  under  the  spell  of  this  fresh 
and  foreign  seduction.  Stella  instinctively  created  a  sens- 
uous atmosphere  which  upset  calculations  founded  on  self- 
control  ;  she  roused  in  these  strong  New  England  natures 
fundamental  emotions  which  it  was  their  painful  study  to 
subdue. 


CHAPTER  III 

COLONIZATION    SUNDAY 

THE  minister's  dream  of  transplanting  a  Congregational 
colony  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  had  been  laid  be- 
fore the  session  in  November.  Deacon  Hannington  dis- 
cussed it  in  confidence  with  his  wife,  who,  also  in  confidence, 
mourned  to  Barbie  over  the  loss  of  the  Yardleys.  It  did 
not  look  as  if  the  minister  intended  to  uproot  his  son, 
having  but  just  started  him  in  business,  but  with  the  home 
broken  up  there  was  not  much  to  call  Jimmy  back  to 
Dugdale,  except  for  a  glimpse  of  them  all  now  and  then. 
It  was  very  serious  news. 

Barbie  took  it  with  suspicious  quiet.  She  went  about 
the  house  with  an  inward  look  for  a  day  or  two;  then  it 
occurred  to  her  that  the  closets  up-garret  must  need  clean- 
ing, which  her  mother  disputed ;  they  had  been  gone  over 
once  that  fall — nevertheless  Barbie  said  she  would  just  as 
soon  take  a  look  up  there.  She  went  up  with  dusting-things 
and  bags  of  gum-camphor  and  other  preparations  for  a 
moth-hunt.  (This  was  shortly  after  Stella  had  come  to  them.) 
Her  mother  opened  the  garret  door  once  and  listened: 
there  was  only  Barbie  up  there  and  she  made  no  sound. 
Mrs.  Hannington  went  away,  saying  grimly,  "  She  must 
fight  it  out  by  herself." 

As  the  time  grew  close  for  Jimmy's  departure,  one  little 
hope  after  another  had  failed.  One  last  good  skate  to- 
gether would  have  been  enough;  — that  was  denied,  to  pun- 
ish her  own  meanness.  Barbie  went  to  church  expecting 


32  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

nothing  more,  beyond  a  brief  call  from  Jimmy  to  say 
good-bye  to  the  family.  Mr.  Yardley  never  visited  on  Sun- 
day and  Jimmy  would  not  leave  him  this  last  day. 

And  then,  as  the  organ  droned  out  its  prelude  to  the  first 
hymn  and  the  congregation  stood  up,  Jimmy  walked 
quickly  past  their  seat,  looking  straight  before  him,  color- 
ing like  a  girl,  and  took  his  unwonted  place  in  the  min- 
ister's pew.  He  was  directly  in  front  of  them.  Mrs.  Han- 
nington  thought  Barbie's  hymn-book  shook  a  little,  but  she 
may  have  been  too  imaginative  in  trifles,  owing  to  her  fears. 
Barbie  was  thinking  better  of  Providence  all  at  once :  she 
had  faith  that  Jimmy  would  walk  home  with  her ;  father 
and  mother  always  went  together  on  ahead.  Meanwhile, 
she  had  his  well-built  back  to  look  at  and  now  and  then 
that  less  than  side-face  which  painters  call  the  "lost"  pro- 
file ;  there  was  still  a  boyish  sweetness  about  the  corners 
of  his  grave,  black-lashed  eyes,  looking  down.  Perhaps 
she  deceived  herself,  thinking  she  could  rest  in  the  persua- 
sion that  it  would  be  enough  if  they  but  kept  their  friend- 
ship for  each  other  through  the  years  of  changes  to  come  : 
she  was  in  church  and  she  very  honestly  felt  what  she  was 
there  for. 

Mr.  Yardley's  choice  of  hymns  for  the  day  expressed 
his  confidence  in  the  decision  he  had  come  to  after  long 
wrestlings. 

"  Sow  in  the  morn  thy  seed  ; 

At  eve  hold  not  thy  hand. 

To  doubt  and  fear  give  thouno  heed  ; 

Broadcast  it  o'er  the  land." 

Jimmy's  uncertain  second  sought  the  support  of  the 
pure,  pealing  soprano  in  the  Hannington  pew  behind  him. 
The  two  voices  blended  surer  with  each  verse.  As  he  took 


COLONIZATION  SUNDAY  33 

his  seat  again,  he  cast  one  look  over  his  shoulder,  and  the 
singers  exchanged  a  mute  greeting. 

Silence  was  happy,  though  afraid ;  her  child's  magnetic 
nearness  communicated  its  excess  of  life  and  feeling  to 
the  sobered  mother,  who  knew  how  such  things  too  often 
end.  Alvin  had  not  been  her  first  choice  by  many  a  long 
hour's  struggle  to  accept  the  advice  of  parents.  Other 
hopes  had  failed  her  through  the  Lord's  will.  It  had 
turned  out  for  the  best,  no  doubt:  who  could  look  back 
upon  far  away  might-have-beens  with  such  a  child  as 
Barbie  in  the  world! 

"You  folks  wait  here,"  Alvin  said  briskly,  warmed  by 
the  excitement  of  the  sermon.  "  I  want  to  go  up  and  speak 
to  Mr.  Yardley." 

"I  wish  you  wouldn't,  father.  You'd  better  wait; 
everybody 's  going  up.  I  really  wouldn't  press  in  if  I  were 
you." 

"  Why,  I  just  want  to  shake  his  hand  and  say  a  word  to 
the  man  —  I  won't  detain  him  a  minute." 

"  I  wish  you'd  wait,  Alvin.  We  want  to  get  home." 

Jimmy  had  risen  and  was  speaking  over  the  pew-back 
to  Barbie,  who  stood  between  her  parents  as  they  argued 
across  her.  Her  chin  was  lifted  while  she  hooked  the  neck  of 
her  victorine,  and  her  languid  eyes,  beneath  lowered  lids, 
took  him  unawares,  with  their  full  meaning.  He  gave  one 
long  look  into  them,  and  then  began  to  work  his  way  out  of 
the  pew.  The  aisle  was  crowded.  Mr.  Hannington  grabbed 
him  by  the  arms  laughing  as  they  squeezed  past  each  other. 

"Hey,  well,  you're  a  stranger!  Coming  in  this  after- 
noon?" 

"No,  thank  you,  sir.  This  evening,  I  hope — to  say 
good-bye." 


34  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  You  hope !  Well,  your  good-byes  don't  seem  to  worry 
you  much.  You'd  better  not  be  too  pleased  to  go." 

"I'm  not,  at  all.  I  am  very  sorry  to  go." 

Jimmy  might  have  let  the  joke  pass,  but  Barbie  was 
listening.  He  continued  to  push  ahead  towards  the  door, 
permitting  himself  one  more  backward  look ;  whatever 
he  had  to  say  to  her  was  said  presumably  in  that  meeting 
of  their  eyes.  It  may  have  been  much;  it  was  probably 
more  than  he  knew;  but  it  was  not  enough,  not  near 
enough,  for  the  last  day.  And  he  had  not  waited. 

"You  better  sit  down,"  Mrs.  Hannington  spoke  hoarsely. 
"  It 's  dreadfully  close  in  here,  seems  to  me." 

Barbie  sat  down  and  rested  her  head  against  something 
which  turned  out  to  be  her  mother.  Mrs.  Hannington 
unhooked  the  fur  cape  again  and  fanned  her  with  her 
handkerchief. 

"  Don't  raise  your  head." 

"  I  am  not  faint,  mother,"  Barbie  asserted ;  her  perfectly 
white  lips  curled  at  the  notion. 

"  Your  father  would  go  up  —  I  asked  him  not  to !  Now, 
you  sit  still;  there's  no  hurry";  —  "Jimmy  has  gone 
on,  anyway,"  Silence  might  have  added  if  she  had  al- 
lowed her  thoughts  to  show.  Barbie  smiled  fixedly,  but 
the  smile  hurt  her  mother  more  than  a  burst  of  crying. 
"  We'll  send  her  out  to  Buffalo  when  grandma  goes  back 
next  spring ;  it  will  be  just  the  thing  for  her,"  Mrs. 
Hannington  resolved,  and  her  thoughts  seemed  to  take 
their  own  way  on  a  sudden. 

"  Why  can't  we  all  go  and  shake  off  our  troubles,  and 
be  some  comfort  to  Mr.  Yardley?"  she  asked  herself 
crazily.  "  I  don't  know  as  there 's  any  one  left  here  we 
care  much  more  about,  and  he  will  have  no  one  of  his 


COLONIZATION  SUNDAY  35 

own.  What's  to  prevent  us?  "  For  the  moment  she  had 
forgotten  they  were  four  instead  of  three.  Would  Mr. 
Yardley  want  Stella  in  his  company  of  the  elect  ? 

And  "  out  there  "  —  what  could  she  do  ?  Stella  was  not 
cut  out  for  a  pioneer's  daughter  nor  a  missionary's  wife. 

At  the  same  moment  her  husband,  holding  the  min- 
ister's hand,  was  saying,  "  Well,  Mr.  Yardley,  you  ought 
to  be  congratulated.  That  was  a  mighty  sermon  you  gave 
us.  But  it's  going  to  come  hard  to  welcome  a  stranger 
in  your  place." 

"  I  was  a  stranger,  when  this  congregation  first  called 
me,"  said  Mr.  Yardley,  rather  weariedly.  "  no  doubt  it  was 
painful  to  many  to  see  me  in  Mr.  Whitehead's  place." 

"  That  was  the  course  of  nature  :  Mr.  Whitehead  was  a 
good  sound  preacher  while  he  lasted,  but  he  wanted  his 
release.  I  hope  we  '11  all  be  as  wise  when  our  turn  comes 
to  give  place  to  the  next  generation.  Well,  I  could  wish  I 
needn'  t  be  here  to  see  it.  And  I  would  n't,  that 's  all !  if 
I  was  ten  years  younger.  I  'd  pull  up  and  go  along  with 
you." 

"  You  'd  have  to  see  first  whether  he  'd  take  ye,  Alvin," 
—  a  neighbor  clapped  him  on  the  back,  —  "  a  kind  of  a 
reckless  character  like  you.  What  say,  Mr.  Yardley? 
think  he  'd  pass  muster  ?  " 

"What,  you  goin'  to  Oregon,  Deacon  Hannington? 
Massy,  what  next !  "  said  a  sharp  little  old  lady,  who  was 
pushing  up  to  speak  to  the  minister. 

"Oh,  I'm  going,  Mrs.  Black,"  Alvin  joked,  "if  my 
wife  says  yes.  I  have  n't  asked  her  yet.  They  do  say,"  — he 
turned  to  the  first  speaker —  "  the  country 's  been  misrep- 
resented right  along.  It 's  been  the  Fur  Trade's  interest  to 
run  it  down  and  keep  it  down,  sending  out  reports  it  *s 


36  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

nothing  but  a  sand  desert.  Nat  Wyeth  says  there 's  mil- 
lions of  dollars  worth  of  clean,  mighty  timber,  and  pasture 
for  thousands  of  sheep,  and  water  power  going  to  waste ; 
he  named  a  dozen  ways  to  put  in  capital." 

"  Nat  Wyeth 's  put  in  most  of  his  own  and  left  it  there : 
I  would  n't  lug  him  in  for  authority." 

"  Well,  I  would  n't  be  afraid  to  quote  Nat  on  any  sub- 
ject he 's  acquainted  with,"  Alvin  held  out.  "  He 's  a 
strong  man :  Nat  knows  what  he 's  talking  about.  He 
couldn't  fight  the  fur  companies  single-handed  —  who 
could,  I  want  to  know?" 

"  Plain,  hard-working  men  are  what  we  need  ;  character, 
not  capital,"  Mr.  Yardley  was  answering  another  enquiring 
parishioner.  "  We  want  to  get  back  to  first  principles  and 
first  practice.  Faith  was  strongest  here  in  New  England 
when  the  bulk  of  our  educated  men  worked  their  own  farms 
and  raised  their  sons  to  help  them." 

"  Yes ;  that 's  true  too.  There 's  something  to  a  church 
when  the  members  want  it  bad  enough  to  build  it  with 
their  own  hands." 

"  Yes,  but  you  have  to  have  money  to  get  you  there." 

"  Money  will  be  advanced  to  those  who  are  short  of  it 
for  immediate  necessities,"  Mr.  Yardley  answered.  "  There 
will  be  ample  security." 

"  And  a  mortgage  on  your  back  ?  "  said  Alvin. 

"  A  mortgage  may  be  a  very  useful  sort  of  limitation," 
Mr.  Yardley  observed  with  a  faint  wintry  twinkle. 

"  A  kind  of  a  counsel  to  soberness,"  added  the  playful 
neighbor. 

"  It  certainly  does  take  the  boy  out  of  a  man,"  Alvin 
pronounced,  as  one  who  might  be  supposed  to  know. 

"  If  I  had  a  mortgage  on  my  place,  I  'd  sell  off  an'  git  rid 


COLONIZATION   SUNDAY  37 

of  it  and  put  what  I  had  left  out  there,  where  a  little 's 
goin'  to  mean  a  good  deal  some  day.  Look  at  Bill  Trum- 
bull  —  how  he 's  gone  ahead  !  Interest  is  what  ha'nts  you. 
I  'd  take  wild  land  any  day  and  build  on  it  with  my  bare 
hands,  before  I  'd  grow  old  meetin'  payments  on  any  old 
farm  here  you  could  show  me.  No,  sir ;  life  ain't  long 
enough." 

Alvin  looked  at  the  speaker  anxiously ;  his  jaw  relaxed, 
Presently  he  said,  "  We  want  you  should  come  in  to  tea 
to-night,  Mr.  Yardley,  and  bring  Jimmy.  Make  an  ex- 
ception —  do  —  the  boy's  last  day ;  you  don't  call  it  visit- 
ing, coming  in  to  our  house  ?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  declined  the  invitation  kindly.  He  and 
Jimmy,  he  said,  had  some  matters  to  talk  over. 

Mrs.  Hannington  complained,  as  she  walked  fast  beside 
her  husband,  Barbie  following,  elbowed  by  little  Mrs. 
Black  in  pursuit  of  information :  "  I  thought  you  never 
were  coming !  Mother  gets  so  faint  for  her  dinner." 

"  She  ought  to  eat  more  breakfast." 

"  She  can't  seem  to ;  she  was  just  the  same  when  she 
had  her  own  big  houseful.  She  'd  sit  and  wait  on  the  rest 
of  us  ;  but  she  wanted  a  good  meal  for  dinner." 

"  Well,  I  hope  she  '11  get  one,"  said  Alvin  cheerfully. 
"How  was  that  turkey?  pretty  middling  tough,  think 
you?" 

"  I  am  not  thinking  about  turkey,"  Silence  assured  him. 
"  Things  do  seem  to  work  in  such  a  queer,  contrary  way 
sometimes.  I  declare  ;  it 's  hard  to  do  what  seems  right 
and  see  it  come  back  on  your  own  children; — do  your 
duty  and  have  them  suffer  for  it !  " 

"Why,  is  there  anything  the  matter  with  Ba  —  ?" 

"  Hush  — -sh !  I  don't  want  to  discuss  it  now." 


38  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

The  effect  of  the  sermon  was  to  loosen  tongues  at  the 
family  dinner.  Every  one  had  something  to  say  except 
Barbie,  her  mother  noticed. 

"I  don't  know  what  Mr.  Yardley's  idea  is,  leaving 
Jimmy  back  here :  the  West  I  should  think  would  just 
suit  Jimmy." 

"  Well,  how  can  he  take  him,  father  ?  Jimmy  is  n't  a 
church  member,"  Mrs.  Hannington  objected. 

"  He 's  the  son  of  a  church  member  — 4  Families  whose 
heads  are  church  members  and  who  will  be  held  respons- 
ible for  their  minors  —  ' 

"  Jimmy  is  n't  a  minor." 

"  I  should  say  he  was,  in  religion  —  he  9s  a  minus  !  " 
Alvin  led  the  laugh  at  his  own  joke. 

"  As  long  as  going  to  church  makes  a  good  person  and 
not  going  makes  a  bad  one,  /  don't  wonder  Jimmy  Yard- 
ley  stops  outside."  Stella  put  both  elbows  on  the  table,  as 
she  spoke,  turning  her  full  glass  of  cider  in  her  hands ;  it 
was  the  best  fermented  pippin,  and  the  beads  rose  and 
spitted  against  the  brim. 

"  That  sounds  clever,"  said  her  uncle,  watching  her  per- 
formance uneasily,  "but  I  guess  you'll  find  it  doesn't 
cover  the  whole  question,  either  side." 

"  Folks  used  to  believe  in  avoiding  the  appearance  of 
evil,  but  now  they  've  grown  so  proud,  they  're  ashamed  to 
be  good.  I  suppose  Jimmy  felt  terrible  to  be  caught  in 
meeting  this  morning,"  Grandma  Trumbull  chuckled. — 
"  Stella,  if  you  ever  had  any  table  manners,  child,  I  should 
think  you  were  trying  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  it." 

Stella  laughed  and  took  in  her  elbows ;  deep  white  cuffs, 
turned  back  with  frilling,  adorned  her  lower  arm  ;  black 
velvet  bands  at  the  wrists  set  off  her  white  hands  flatter- 


COLONIZATION   SUNDAY  39 

ingly,  and  a  similar  band  encircled  her  beautiful  throat 
above  the  broad,  ruffled  collar  fastened  with  her  mother's 
stone-cameo  brooch  in  a  setting  of  pearls. 

"I  don't  believe  any  two  persons  could  disagree  more 
unitedly  than  Mr.  Yardley  and  his  son,"  Barbie  ended 
without  breath. 

"  Which  *  son '  ?  "  Stella  enquired ;  she  shot  a  keen, 
merry  glance  at  her  cousin,  who  colored  furiously. 

"  Well,  I  guess  giving  up  the  sea  hurt  Jimmy  pretty 
near  as  bad  as  his  not  uniting  hurts  his  father,"  Mrs. 
Hannington  struck  in.  "  It 's  give  and  take ;  but  if  they 
go  their  separate  ways  it  won't  be  because  there  's  any 
hard  feeling.  I  would  be  willing  to  say  that  to  anybody." 

"  Mr.  Yardley  thinks  young  men  had  ought  to  get  their 
facts  and  form  their  working  habits  while  their  minds  are 
fresh  and  open ;  I  've  heard  him  say  so.  Founding  mis- 
sions away  from  home  and  such  big  errands  that  take 
judgment,  I  Ve  heard  him  say,  are  for  men  old  enough 
to  leave  details  to  others  while  they  work  out  the  main 
idea." 

"I  think  you've  got  that  a  little  different,  father," 
Barbie  protested  in  parenthesis. 

"  Ooh  !  "  Stella  pretended  to  shudder.  "  Old  men's  ideas 
are  terrible  things ;  they  are  so  fixed." 

"  You  want  something  to  be  fixed,  or  we  should  n't 
know  where  we  stood,"  said  Mrs.  Hannington.  "  I  like  to 
be  told  when  I  'm  in  error,  if  I  can't  see  it  for  myself." 

"  Everybody 's  in  error  to  somebody,"  Stella  mentioned 
lightly. 

"  Your  pastor  is  n't  '  somebody.'  What 's  a  pastor  for  ? 
I  guess  Mr.  Yardley  is  n't  going  to  invent  any  new  com- 
mandments." 


40  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  !  I  would  n't  trust  him,  away  out  in 
Oregon,"  said  Stella.  "  Think  how  they  behaved  —  your 
old  Puritans  —  when  they  had  everything  their  own  way 
here!" 

"  They  were  n't  '  old '  —  not  half  of  'em,"  Grandma 
Trumbull  wandered  placidly.  "My  grandfather  believed 
in  witches  and  I  don't  know  but  what  he  helped  to  hang 
one  or  two.  He  was  n't  over  five-and-thirty,  —  as  pleasant 
a  man  as  ever  was.  He  lived  to  see  Judge  Sewall  sit 
through  his  own  recantation  read  out  in  the  Old  South, 
and  ask  forgiveness  for  all  he  ever  done  against  those  in- 
nocent folks  that  were  murdered  —  and  it  wa'n't  murder 
neither.  They  were  mistaken  and  not  mistaken,  same  as 
we  are  now,  young  or  old,  but  I  guess  they  were  pretty 
conscientious  on  the  whole." 

"  Grandma  has  such  a  way  of  spreading  out  a  thing," 
said  Stella  with  a  gesture  to  fit  the  phrase. 

"  Because  she  can  see  so  far  back  ;  she  can  always  think 
up  some  case  to  show  how  little  we  ought  to  say  this  is 
true,  or  that  is  n't  true,  of  any  one." 

"  Well,  mother,  I  guess  you  need  to  take  a  nap,"  said 
Alvin :  "  you  talk  as  if  you  were  about  half  asleep 
already." 

"  Aunt  Silence  is  thinking  of  something,"  said  Stella 
keenly.  "  She  is  n't  with  us." 

"Well,  if  we  're  all  through,"  said  Silence,  rising, 
"  suppose  we  eat  our  walnuts  in  the  sitting-room." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   FIRST   VOLUNTEER 

JIMMY  would  not  have  missed  his  walk  home  with 
Barbie  Hannington,  but  that  his  whole  mind  just  then  was 
bent  on  another  matter,  and  there  was  no  time  to  lose. 

The  Old  Man  had  been  "  foxy."  Here  was  his  son,  in 
the  flower  of  his  days,  delivered  over  to  Commerce  and 
Manufactures  while  the  reverend  gentleman,  nearing 
sixty,  was  planning  for  himself  a  mad  career  of  adventure 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

This  accounted  for  so  much  extraneous  and  secular 
reading-matter  covering  the  minister's  desk  ;  private  dia- 
ries of  far- western  journeys  in  cheap,  ugly  bindings ;  re- 
ports of  government  engineers,  pamphlets  on  sheep- 
raising,  bee-culture,  hops ;  notes  on  the  customs  and 
classification  of  the  tra-montane  tribes  of  Indians  — 
Jimmy  had  borrowed  the  reports,  observing  it  made  his 
father  nervous.  "  Ho  ! "  thought  Jimmy,  "  he  's  dissipat- 
ing in  topics  of  the  time ;  he 's  got  his  eyes  open  at  last  to 
the  fact  that  there  's  a  country  bigger  than  the  Congrega- 
tional church  membership  of  New  England ! "  But  now 
it  was  Jimmy's  eyes  that  were  opened. 

At  dinner  there  had  been  silence,  of  extreme  and  nerv- 
ous avidity  on  the  young  man's  side  of  the  table;  he 
swallowed  his  soup  as  if  a  train,  or,  —  to  be  chronological, 
—  a  fifty-mile-a-day  stage-coach,  had  to  be  caught  on  time. 
Then  suddenly  he  enquired,  in  an  offhand  manner,  "  What 
was  the  «  Flathead  deputation/  father  ?" 


42  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

Mr.  Yardley  raised  sarcastic  eyebrows.  "  How  long  is 
it  since  you  've  been  inside  a  church  before  to-day  ?  " 

"  I  'd  rather  not  be  put  on  oath,  sir." 

"  It  might  be  worth  your  while  to  go  occasionally,  for 
the  sake  of  a  little  general  information.  —  Is  this  too  rare 
for  you?"  Mr.  Yardley  asked  the  question  regularly 
every  Sunday;  the  boy  of  old  had  liked  his  beef  well 
done. 

"  It 's  just  right,  thanks,  but  I  don't  mind  a  bit  of  the 
outside.  —  Father,  why  have  you  been  keeping  me  in  the 
dark  about  this  ?  When  a  man  of  your  age  —  excuse  me, 
sir  —  breaks  up  his  home,  don't  he  usually  mention  it  a 
few  days  beforehand  to  the  only  son  he  's  got?" 

"  The  home  is  broken  up  when  you  go,  Jimmy.  Your 
plans  were  decided  before  mine  were." 

"  They  can  be  mighty  soon  undecided !  This  opens  en- 
tirely new  ground  between  us,  father.  If  it  only  had 
come  sooner  it  would  have  saved  all  our  trouble  about  the 
sea ;  you  could  have  bought  me  off  with  this,  in  one 
word." 

"  I  am  glad  you  were  not  '  bought  off.'  That  satisfac- 
tion I  shall  carry  to  my  grave.  But  you  have  n't  the  first 
qualification  for  one  of  my  Company." 

"  I  have  the  qualification  that  I  am  your  son.  I  hope 
you  need  me  a  little  ;  I  know  that  I  need  you." 

"  You  have  had  me  a  number  of  years.  You  don't  seem 
to  have  made  much  use  of  me." 

"As  a  father  I  think  I  have  used  you  pretty  freely,  and 
abused  you  some." 

"  The  question  remains :  Would  you  find  that  you  needed 
me  so  much  now,  if  my  plans  were  not  taking  a  direction 
it  suits  your  fancy  to  follow  ?  " 


THE  FIRST  VOLUNTEER  43 

"  Oh,  come,  sir  !  We  all  have  more  than  one  reason  for 
what  we  want  to  do  ;  did  n't  you  have  more  than  one  for 
not  asking  me  to  go  along  ?  " 

"  You  keep  forgetting  the  main  idea :  I  go  to  build  up 
a  pioneer  church.  —  Do  you  feel  ready  to  unite  with  it  ?  " 

"  Not  quite,"  —  Jimmy  permitted  himself  to  copy  his 
father's  dryness,  —  "  but  there  '11  be  something  for  me  to 
do  out  there  as  good  as  making  calico." 

"  I  am  not  taking  out  settlers  in  assorted  lots  to  fit  all 
the  temporal  needs  of  a  new  country ;  I  am  following  up 
the  call  for  men  of  a  special  type.  They  need  not  be  re- 
markable as  individuals,  but  they  must  be  clean-lived, 
obedient  members  of  the  fellowship  of  Christ." 

"  I  thought  you  said  this  morning,  sir,  it  was  not  speci- 
fically a  mission  ?  " 

"  —  To  the  Indians,  I  meant.  It  is  intended  for  the 
next  step,  because  I  am  too  late  for  the  first ;  braver  men 
than  your  father  answered  that  call.  Simpler  men,  I  might 
say :  I  am  not  aware  that  I  was  physically  disinclined. 
'  Leave  the  dead  to  bury  the  dead,  but  go  thou  and  preach 
the  kingdom  of  God ' ;  that  is  simple ;  all  it  says  is  '  Go.' 
And  they  went.  You  were  a  boy ;  I  suppose  they  would 
be  only  names  to  you,  —  Samuel  Parker,  Jason  Lee, 
Whitman,  Spaulding  ?  —  The  Methodists  broke  the  road, 
but  we  sent  some  grand  men,  and  they  stayed. 

"  Now,  if  you  want  to  know  about  the  Flathead  depu- 
tation :  —  that  was  the  great  call  in  '33.  I  want  you  to 
understand  the  first  causes  ;  what  started  this  tide  that  is 
pouring  into  the  Northwest,  and  is  going  to  make  it  a 
great  country  and  a  part  of  us.  It  was  n't  war,  nor  beaver, 
nor  competition  in  trade  :  the  fur  interests,  both  sides,  are 
dead  against  it;  the  British  companies  are  beating  us 


44  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

out  of  all  that  territory,  and  they  don't  build  up  commun- 
ities ;  fences  and  meeting-houses  are  scarecrows  to  them. 
And  it  was  n't  science,  though  science  did  something  to- 
wards it.  No ;  it  was  man's  primal,  unquenchable  yearn- 
ing for  knowledge  of  God.  It  was  the  journey  of  the  shep- 
herds over  again  —  so  our  churches  named  it.  The  '  call 
from  the  Wise  men  of  the  West '  —  eighteen  centuries 
later ;  only  there  was  no  star  to  guide  these  poor  men,  and 
no  Bethlehem.  There  was  a  city  just  as  crowded,  though, 
and  just  as  heedless  :  —  St.  Louis,  in  winter,  full  of  white 
men  drunk  and  white  men  sober,  spending  their  wages  in 
sin. 

"  Five  chiefs  of  the  Flathead  Nation,  in  1832,  crossed 
the  Blue  Mountains  to  talk  to  General  Clark  about  the 
white  man's  '  Book  of  Heaven '  —  took  a  little  walk  of 
three  thousand  miles  to  ask  the  way  to  God  !  —  Is  n't  that 
astounding  ?  And  you  never  heard  of  it  —  in  this  house ! 
If  I  had  not  one  other  reason  for  resigning  here,  I  should 
say  that  was  enough ! "  Father  and  son  smiled  at  each 
other  forlornly. 

"They  had  talked  it  over  by  their  camp-fires,"  the 
minister  resumed,  "  I  don't  remember  how  many  winters 
— since  Clark  and  Meri wether  Lewis  passed  through  their 
country." 

"  In  1806  they  went  through,"  said  Jimmy  modestly ; 
he  had  just  been  reading  Lewis  and  Clark's  report. 

"  — '  And  now,'  said  they,  *  it  is  time  we  learned  about 
these  things.'  They  had  heard  that  the  book  was  the 
strength  of  the  white  race,  and  our  only  road  to  Heaven. 
Well,  they  started,  five,  and  one  died  on  the  plains.  In 
their  own  words,  '  he  grew  tired  in  many  moons,  and  his 
moccasins  wore  out.'  The  other  four  wintered  in  St. 


THE  FIRST   VOLUNTEER  45 

Louis.  If  there  was  much  talk  of  the  Book  there,  it  was 
hid  from  them.  They  began  to  have  doubts  whether  all  of 
the  whites  themselves  had  heard  of  it.  General  Clark 
made  them  his  guests  ;  he  was  very  kind  ;  he  showed  them 
the[sights —  some  which  they  did  not  comprehend  as  proofs 
of  our  wisdom  and  friendship  with  the  Almighty.  They 
ate  a  great  deal  of  rich  food  they  were  not  accustomed  to 
and  two  more  died.  In  the  spring,  the  last  two  started 
home.  They  took  back  nothing  that  they  came  for.  Gen- 
eral Clark  told  them  the  Book  could  not  help  them  with- 
out teachers :  there  were  none,  so  far  from  the  white  man's 
country.  The  roads  were  very  long ;  how  long  none  could 
know  better  than  they. 

"  A  young  man,  who  was  a  believer,  happened  to  have 
been  in  General  Clark's  office  when  their  oldest  chief  made 
his  farewell  speech.  He  went  away  *  exceeding  sorrowful.* 
It  made  such  an  impression  on  him  that  he  wrote  it  out 
from  memory  and  sent  it  to  some  church  friends  in  Ohio 
and  they  passed  it  on  East :  it  ran  like  wildfire ;  our 
'  Christian  Advocate  '  published  it.  I  could  repeat  that 
speech  now,  word  for  word ;  —  but  you  would  say,  *  they 
are  the  young  man's  words.' 

"  There,  however,  are  the  facts  :  the  five  who  journeyed 
in  hope,  the  two  who  went  back  in  the  old  despair. 

" '  We  came,'  said  they,  4  with  one  eye  partly  open,  seek- 
ing more  light.  We  go  back  with  both  eyes  blinded.  You 
make  our  feet  heavy  with  the  burden  of  your  gifts  but 
the  Book  is  not  among  them.'  --It  was  not  long,  though : 
once  that  message  found  the  right  men,  they  did  not  tarry. 
It  was  no  matter  to  them  whose  words  it  came  in ;  it  was 
4  as  fire  in  their  bones.'  It  came  to  me  with  others.  I 
preached  a  sermon  on  it ;  a  good  sermon,  I  think,  but  in 


46  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

prayer,  alone,  it  was  a  groaning  and  a  reproach.  I  walked 
the  floor  many  a  night  that  winter,  but  I  could  not  see 
my  duty  plain.  I  could  not  forget  I  was  a  father.  You  were 
beginning,  before  you  were  out  of  jackets,  to  dispute  on 
subjects  where  I  think  children  should  listen  and  learn  to 
pray.  Next,  you  were  possessed  to  go  to  sea.  I  could  n't  leave 
you  adrift  —  if  I  took  you,  it  would  cost  you  your  edu- 
cation. And,  failing  as  I  had  to  influence  you  here,  with 
everything  in  my  favor,  how  could  I  hope  to  stem  the 
rush  of  new  sensations,  and  all  the  excitements  of  a  life 
more  hazardous,  I  had  reason  to  think,  to  soul  and  body, 
than  the  sea  itself?" 

"  Your  staying  spoiled  a  good  sailor-man,  father,  I  ex- 
pect. Now  are  you  going  to  spoil  a  good  pioneer  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  interrupt  me,  son.  This  has  no- 
thing to  do  with  you ;  this  is  my  sole  accounting  for  service 
that  comes  too  late  for  me  to  be  making  my  own  conditions. 
I  shall  not  dicker  with  my  Maker  now.  The  stumbling 
was  here,  here !  Your  father  persuaded  himself  that  his 
light  would  be  hid,  teaching  poor,  ignorant  savages.  My 
people  were  my  very  heart-strings.  I  give  up  easily  to 
habits ;  I  am  hard  to  move.  Son,  the  Lord  took  means  to 
rout  me  out.  He  slackened  my  hands,  —  He  shifted  the 
ground  I  stood  on.  'I  leaned  against  my  house  and  it 
fell ! '  What  have  I  accomplished  in  this  parish  since  I 
withheld  my  word  among  the  heathen  ?  Did  that  quench- 
ing of  the  spirit  in  me  quicken  any  other  soul  in  doubt  ? 
What  have  I  done  for  Christ  here  in  Dugdale  in  the  past 
eight  years  ?  " 

The  question  hung  in  the  air  while  Lyddy,  the  par- 
sonage cook  and  general  servant,  came  in  and  ministered 
unto  them  in  the  matter  of  pie  and  walnuts.  She  glanced 


THE  FIRST  VOLUNTEER  47 

at  the  thick  wrinkles  in  the  parson's  forehead,  his  bleak 
eyes,  and  at  his  unused  plate. 

"  I  '11  slip  off  that  slice  o'  beef  he  's  left  and  save  it  for 
Min's  supper,"  she  promised  herself.  Minnie  was  Lyddy's 
sister,  a  rheumatic  cripple  to  whom  the  parson  gave  a  home. 
She  stayed  upstairs  in  Lyddy's  room  and  did  what  sewing 
her  stiff  finger-joints  allowed.  She  could  do  so  little  for 
her  "  keep  "  that  it  was  Lyddy's  constant  struggle  to  make 
her  "eat  enough  to  be  decent"  as  she  said,  seeing  no 
doubt  the  impropriety  of  bones  with  no  flesh  to  cover 
them.  The  doctor  had  ordered  that  she  should  eat  little 
or  no  red  meat ;  but  Lyddy  thought  "  he  only  says  so  'cause 
he  knows  she 's  beholden  for  every  meal  she  gets ;  —  I  know 
Parson  would  n't  be  so  small  as  all  that  comes  to  !  Min  '11 
eat  it,  if  I  tell  her  't  would  be  throw'd  to  the  dog  if  she 
don't." 

"Yes,  if  you  could  know  the  apathy  I  see  all  around 
me,"  the  minister  sighed.  "  My  voice  has  been  heard  here 
too  long :  some  new  man  must  come  and  wake  this  parish 
up ;  and  if  my  sermons  are  not  bright  enough  for  the 
younger  generation,  I  had  better  carry  them  to  those  poor, 
rude  souls  who  ask  only  the  Bread  of  Life  and  are  will- 
ing to  take  it  on  their  knees.  When  I  preach  the  Word 
of  God  I  don't  want  to  hear,  'What's  your  authority?' 
(human  authority,  mind !  )  *  Where  did  you  get  it ? '  'Is 
that  all  of  it  ?  '  —  '  Sure  you  are  n't  keeping  back  what 
would  alter  the  context  ?  '  You  young  disputers  examine 
the  gospels  as  if  they  were  some  new  tricky  investment  for 
your  money. 

"  Well ;  come,  now,  to  my  own  household,  where  my 
responsibility  sits  closest.  If  I  have  had  one  sure  expec- 
tation, it  has  been  that  I  should  prepare  my  son  for  his 


48  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

first  communion  while  his  heart  was  tender  and  his  life 
unstained.  Can  you  measure,  Jimmy,  a  boy  like  you,  the 
exceeding  bitterness  there  is  in  this  —  that  at  twenty-two 
you  have  not  'united  with  the  church  your  mother  and  I 
were  married  in,  where  she  made  her  own  first  profession, 
and  where  I  have  served  the  Lord  in  my  poor  way  for 
six-and-twenty  years  ?  —  and  don't  even  call  it  a  duty  to 
go  there  and  say  the  Lord's  prayer  on  the  Lord's  Day ! 
Could  there  be  a  greater  rebuke  before  my  people  ?  It  is 
needless  to  repeat  —  I  am  finished ;  but  I  don't  exactly 
see  how  I  can  take  you  as  a  member  of  my  outbound 
flock.  I  cannot  plant  heterodoxy,  scepticism,  intellectual 
conceit,  even  in  the  beloved  son." 

Jimmy  had  no  defence  to  make  to  these  terrible  words  ; 
they  really  cut  him  very  deep.  The  preacher's  voice  rasped 
on,  harsh  with  nerves,  soaring  into  a  tone  of  almost  angry 
emphasis.  "  And  you  are  not  the  only  proof  that  stares 
me  in  the  face.  I  could  point  to  another  young  soul  adrift 
that  I  have  failed  to  reach ;  —  a  stranger  amongst  us, 
under  a  cloud  of  bereavement  —  " 

Jimmy  rose  up  with  a  hot  face :  "  Suppose  we  go  into 
the  study,  sir,"  he  broke  in. 

Mr.  Yardley,  dropping  his  napkin,  preceded  his  son, 
vaguely  adopting  [the  motion,  into  the  adjoining  parlor 
which  was  the  ministerial  sanctum.  He  took  his  own 
arm-chair,  the  chair  of  counsel,  and  Jimmy  sank  into  the 
uneasy  seat  of  the  counselled,  opposite.  Mr.  Yardley 
fingered  the  sheets  of  sermon  paper  on  the  table  between 
them,  while  he  sought  the  lost  thread  of  his  discourse. 

"It  is  a  poor  husbandman  who  finds  fault  with  his 
young  plants,  or  with  God's  seasons :  he  has  something 
to  learn  —  or  he  had  better  choose  a  different  soil  to  work 


THE  FIRST   VOLUNTEER  49 

in.  New  blood  is  needed  in  our  old  parishes,  and  some  of 
us  old  hack  preachers  need  quickening  ourselves." 

"All  this  accounts  for  your  going,  father,"  Jimmy  sat 
forward  to  say,  "  but  it  does  n't  explain  to  my  satisfac- 
tion why  you  won't  take  me.  As  I  understand,  you  want 
the  stuff  for  a  free-soil  and  a  religious  community  and 
you  want  it  clean  as  seed  wheat.  I  am  free-soil  and  I  'm 
not  without  religion,  though  I  have  n't  joined  the  church  ; 
and  I  hope  I  'm  not  rotten  before  I  am  ripe.  On  what 
ground  except  the  narrowest  do  you  expect  to  keep  me 
out  ?  and  what 's  to  hinder  my  going  anyhow  ?  I  'm  of 
age.  I  shall  not  ask  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for 
my  expenses.  There  will  have  to  be  a  long  arm  to  the 
lever ;  let  me  lift  on  that  end,  at  a  respectful  distance 
from  your  church  members.  I  'm  not  trifling,  sir,  only 
your  attitude  towards  me  is  so  unnatural." 

"  I  was  natural  before,  Jimmy,  when  I  hung  back  for 
your  sake." 

"  Have  I  heard  all  your  reasons,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  feeling  that  I  must  not  render  and  take  back 
in  the  same  action,"  said  Mr.  Yardley  ignoring  the  ques- 
tion. "  If  I  take  you  with  me,r  where  is  my  sacrifice  ?  you 
will  be  the  sacrifice!  I  am  afraid  of  that  life  for  you, 
unless  you  were  better  anchored.  — There  is  one  other  safe- 
guard." 

Jimmy  thought  he  knew  its  name  ;  his  father  had  often 
said,  next  to  being  a  member  in  Christ  the  surest  anchor 
for  a  young  man  was  an  early  marriage  to  a  good  woman, 
herself  a  member. 

Jimmy  was  more  than  a  little  stung  by  his  own  emo- 
tional doubts  just  now.  If  he  had  not  met  Stella  Mutrie, 
he  knew  that  he  would  by  this  time  have  come  to  an 


50  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

understanding  for  life  with  his  proud  little  sweetheart  of 
the  winter  before.  But  he  had  hurt  her  image  in  his  soul : 
while  he  could  flush  and  pant  at  the  mention  of  another 
girl  he  might  not  go  near  Barbie.  Yet  he  was  firm  against 
steering  any  closer  to  the  siren's  isle.  He  was  passionate 
but  hard-headed,  and  he  knew  through  his  New  England 
habit  of  foresight  exactly  —  within  certain  limits  —  the 
sort  of  wife  he  must  have :  Stella  was  outside  those  limits. 
She  found  him  excessively  provoking  to  her  vanity.  He 
had  undeveloped  capacities  for  love-making  which  she 
recognized  and  felt  it  would  be  an  agreeable  mission 
to  exploit.  She  was  not  without  a  certain  naughty  fore- 
sight that  told  her  whom  it  would  be  fun  to  play  with, 
but  she  could  not  make  this  gray-eyed,  unsmiling  boy 
commit  himself,  except  with  his  eyes.  He  certainly  gave 
himself  every  opportunity  for  using  them — perhaps  in 
the  hope  that  he  might  come  to  see  her  in  a  different 
light ;  but  she  never  satisfied  the  standards  in  his  blood, 
—  often  she  jarred  on  them  screamingly. 

He  had  come  to  his  cool  young  judgment  through  a 
small-sized  furnace-blast  of  controversy  with  his  elders. 
His  metal  had  been  fired  and  chilled  and  hammered  in 
those  revival  winters  when  he  sat  through  exordiums  and 
sobs  and  prayers  and  hushed  moans  of  spiritual  travail, 
shivering,  quickened  in  every  nerve  of  human  sympathy, 
yet  isolated  and  firm  —  "  stiff-necked  "  —  in  his  hair- 
breadth negations.  That  little,  which  others  thought  he 
might  get  over  if  he  would,  meant  "  worlds  away  "  to  him. 
Until  he  could  see  the  road  before  him,  neither  in  love 
nor  religion  would  he  take  the  first  deliberate  step.  He 
had  falsified  his  dream  as  to  work,  but  that  was  a  thing 
he  owed  to  a  higher  necessity ;  the  comfort  and  confidence 


THE  FIRST  VOLUNTEER  51 

of  his  father's  sympathy  in  shaping  his  course.  Theoreti- 
cally Mr.  Yardley  was  bound  to  shudder  at  his  son's 
future  state,  yet  he  must  in  fact  have  yielded  to  many 
consolations,  in  regard  to  the  boy's  fitness  for  this  life. 

"  As  to  that  4  safeguard,'  father,  how  do  you  know  what 
may  happen  out  there  ?  "  this  was  bitter  irony,  but  wasted 
on  the  preacher. 

"  The  men  I  hope  to  take  with  me,"  Mr.  Yardley  per- 
severed, "  will  be  men  too  young  to  have  grown-up  daugh- 
ters :  that  means  no  social  life  and  no  wives,  for  unmarried 
white  men  of  your  class ;  we  shall  have  to  wait  for  the 
wives  to  grow  up." 

"  Well,  perhaps  I  can  wait.  You  have  n't  heard  me 
clamoring  for  a  wife  lately,  have  you,  sir  ?  " 

"  How  do  I  know  what  you  are  doing !  "  said  the  parson, 
painfully  playful.  "You  may  have  begun  to  form  ties 
already  that  I  should  be  responsible  for  breaking  if  I  took 
you  West." 

"  I  have  no  ties  that  keep  me  from  you,  father.  I  shall 
not  marry  yet  awhile." 

Mr.  Yardley  weighed  this  statement  attentively.  "  In- 
deed ?  —  Then  I  may  have  taken  for  granted  more  than  is 
true,  or  likely  to  be  true  ?  "  As  nothing  followed  the  ques- 
tion, he  filled  the  pause  himself.  —  "I  am  sorry,  I  am 
sorry  !  both  ways :  that  I  should  have  forced  the  subject 
on  you  and  that  I  seem  to  have  been  mistaken." 

"  It  was  certainly  no  mistake  to  bring  it  up,"  said 
Jimmy.  "  It  gives  me  a  chance  to  say  without  any  quali- 
fication that  I  am  free  to  go  with  you  anywhere  —  to- 
morrow, if  you  like." 

"I  cannot  congratulate  you  on  your  freedom,  son." 
Mr.  Yardley  spoke  with  a  heaviness  akin  to  sorrow.  A  lit- 


52  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

tie  hope  cherished  for  years  died  in  that  moment  between 
them.  For  of  course  it  was  Barbara  Hannington  who  had 
so  long  filled  the  minister's  eye  as  the  appointed  wife  for 
his  son.  He  had  picked  her  out  as  a  child  and  watched 
her  with  an  almost  proprietary  pride  as  she  grew  in  grace 
and  comeliness ;  she  was  become  to  him  like  one  of  his 
own,  and  her  pure,  uplifted  gaze  among  the  faces  in 
the  front  pews  had  long  focused  the  best  parts  of  his 
sermons.  He  thought  of  her  in  his  hours  of  composition  — 
of  her  lovely,  intelligent  eyes,  when  he  was  choosing  a 
quotation  which  carried  with  it  the  old  Bible  thrill  of 
naked  utterance ;  the  answering  glow  in  her  tender,  speak- 
ing face  was  never  wanting.  But  it  was  a  dream  —  an  old 
man's  flattered  fancy.  He  hoped  Jimmy  might  not  make 
a  worse  mistake,  of  commission  instead  of  omission,  when 
he  came  to  choose  for  himself.  Lyddy  Fowler,  in  her  vul- 
gar, lucid  way,  had  set  before  him  the  theory  of  a  counter- 
attraction  in  the  same  house.  Mr.  Yardley  endeavored  to 
forget  her  words :  — 

"  Anybody  with  eyes  in  their  head  can  see  Barbie  Han- 
nington's  cake  's  all  dough  sence  that  West  Injian  cousin 's 
come.  Every  single  one  of  Barbie's  beaus  is  after  her  now. 
Oh,  she  's  a  caution  —  that  girl !  Not  so  tumble  good- 
lookin',  /would  n't  call  her,  but  you  can  see  in  one  minute 
she  knows  how  to  use  every  smitch  of  looks  she  's  got." 

"  There  are  better  things  for  a  young  man  than  free- 
dom from  the  obligations  of  affection,"  Mr.  Yardley  re- 
turned heavily.  "  I  had  hoped  to  see  you  settled  with  a 
suitable  partner  while  you  were  young,  Jimmy.  Have  you 
never  seen  the  woman  yet  you  would  wish  to  marry  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  the  woman  I  would  wish  not  to  marry," 
said  Jimmy,  goaded  to  desperation  ;  "  and  I  want  to  get 


THE   FIRST  VOLUNTEER  53 

away  for  fear  I  may  ask  her  yet,  in  spite  of  myself.  I  am 
not  half  as  anxious  to  get  away  from  her  as  I  ought  to  be ; 
and  that 's  why  I  think  it 's  time  for  me  to  go.  Fall  River 
is  n't  Dugdale,  but  it 's  not  far  enough  away.  I  may  come 
pelting  back  again  once  your  back  is  turned,  you  know." 

Jimmy  was  teasing  and  lobbying  too.  He  was  beginning 
to  feel  reckless.  There  was  truth  enough  in  what  he  was 
saying  to  satisfy  an  ordinary  working  conscience  —  not, 
of  course,  a  conscience  like  his  father's.  The  good  man 
had  brought  it  on  himself  and  he  fell  into  the  trap  at  once. 
His  alarm  was  such  that  he  could  scarcely  speak.  But 
Jimmy  saw  his  case  was  won.  If  he  was  smitten  with  a 
measure  of  shame  for  his  cunning  victory,  he  trusted  the 
results  might  justify  the  means. 

"  I  should  not  think  you  had  better  speak  of  this  to  any 
one  quite  yet,"  Mr.  Yardley  faltered. 

"  Certainly  not,  sir,"  Jimmy  agreed  largely ;  "  not  till 
I  have  seen  Mr.  Pierce.  There  will  be  handy  fellows 
enough  glad  of  my  job  there." 

"  I  see  no  reason,  if  you  explain  your  plans,  why  you 
should  not  keep  the  job  yourself  for  a  month  or  two.  You 
would  be  nearer  Boston ;  you  could  be  very  useful  to  me 
in  working  up  certain  lines  of  information  through  sources 
I  can  reach  only  by  letter." 

"That  would  suit  me  to  a  dot,"  said  Jimmy,  well 
pleased,  "if  they  don't  mind  wasting  time  on  a  green- 
horn for  nothing." 

"  I  should  n't  imagine  they  would  trouble  about  you 
much  at  first,  but  you  would  keep  occupied,  and  you  could 
help  me.  Be  as  frank  as  you  like  about  my  plans.  I  shall 
publish  them  in  the  '  Advocate '  next  month,  to  invite  cor- 
respondence with  persons  who  may  desire  to  go." 


54  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

Jimmy  looked  amused.  "  If  it 's  not  irreverent,  I  'd  like 
to  ask,  sir,  how  you  conduct  your  entrance  examinations  ? 
how  do  you  pick  'em  out  ?  By  what  you '  ve  put  me  through, 
I  should  call  the  needle's  eye  a  double  barn-door  to  it ! " 

"  Well,  son  ;  you  have  n't  gone  through  yet,  quite." 

"  I  am  going  to  squeak  it  somehow ;  —  it  won't  be  my 
riches  that  will  hinder  me,  that 's  one  thing ! " 

"  If  it  were  the  gate  of  heaven,  I  can't  say  I  think  it 
would  be  right  for  a  man  to  favor  his  own." 

"  I  'm  sure  you  'd  make  it  as  hard  for  me  as  you  could, 
dad.  But  that  does  n't  prevent  me  scuffling  for  myself." 


CHAPTER  V 

FOR   THE   YOUNG 

THAT  evening  after  prayer  meeting,  Alvin  and  Silence 
talked  late  over  the  embers  of  their  sitting-room  fire,  com- 
paring notes  as  to  Jimmy's  last  call.  It  had  seemed  hur- 
ried and  perfunctory;  there  is  nothing  particularly  cheer- 
ing, moreover,  in  the  good  spirits  of  a  friend  who  comes 
to  say  farewell.  Jimmy's  face  certainly  was  brighter  since 
morning.  He  had  not  seen  Stella  alone,  or  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton  might  have  fancied  they  had  come  to  a  sudden  under- 
standing. 

"  I  wonder,"  she  said,  leaning  back  in  her  rocking-chair 
and  pushing  off  the  cat  that  was  clawing  her  black  silk 
lap ;  "  I  wonder  if  you  remember  what  year  it  is  ?  " 

"  What  year  it  is?  Why,  of  course  !  why  not?" 

"  Little  Sam  Demarest  will  be  twenty-one  this  spring." 

"Well,  what  then?"  Alvin  evaded.  He  knew  her 
thoughts  ;  she  wished  to  remind  him  of  his  long,  burden- 
some trusteeship  of  the  Demarest  children's  legacies,  to 
be  paid  off  when  the  youngest  came  of  age. 

"I  hope  it  don't  harass  you  any?"  Silence  was  intim- 
ate enough  with  her  husband's  business  affairs  to  have 
cause  for  misgivings.  "  Think  you  '11  be  able  to  meet  it 
all  —  interest  and  principal?" 

"  I  won't  be  able  to  much  more  than  meet  it,  and  I  don't 
know  as  I  can  that,  without  we  sell  off  a  piece  of  land." 

"  For  pity's  sake ! "  she  cried  ;  "  I  don't  see  what  we  '11 
have  left  to  live  on  if  much  more  of  it  goes." 


56  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"Nor  I,"  said  Alvin.  "But  don't  you  say  anything." 

"  I !  who  would  I  say  it  to  ?  " 

"  Don't  say  anything  to  your  mother.  She  might,  nat- 
urally enough,  speak  of  it  to  William's  folks,  and  perhaps 
it  will  work  out  without  putting  on  another  mortgage.  I  'm 
making  arrangements." 

"  It 's  a  great  comfort  to  her  the  way  they  get  along. 
It 's  more  than  she  expected.  We  never  thought  William 
was  much  of  a  manager,  but  he 's  certainly  done  great 
things  since  they  moved  out  there.  It 's  almost  discourag- 
ing." 

Mrs.  Hannington  would  not  have  been  understood  to 
mean  that  she  deprecated  her  brother's  success  ;  it  was  the 
contrast  that  hurt.  Alvin  when  she  married  him  had  been 
a  man  of  property  and  her  brother  William  had  little  or 
nothing.  Alvin  was  silent ;  he  knew  her  thoughts,  but 
refrained  from  alluding  to  the  help  William's  mother 
had  given  him :  without  her  encouragement  he  would  not 
have  made  even  the  start. 

"  A  change  does  seem  to  bring  a  man  out  sometimes. 
I  've  noticed  the  branch  that  moves  away  generally 's  the 
one  to  get  on,  in  families.  The  ones  who  stay  by  the  old 
homes  —  well,  they  have  the  homes,"  she  sighed. 

"It's  a  good  home."  Alvin  stroked  the  arms  of  his 
father's  old  black  oak  Windsor.  He  tipped  back  for  a  fresh 
stick  of  wood.  "But  I'm  pretty  tired,  seeing  things  go 
downhill.  I  can  remember  when  we  raised  about  every- 
thing we  needed  off  the  Kidge  place.  We  children  were 
sent  there  summers,  like  the  country ;  we  could  n't  see  a 
house  around  us  anywhere,  and  the  land  was  all  our  own." 

"  I  believe  Barbie  would  like  it  real  well." 

"Like  what?" 


FOR  THE  YOUNG  57 

"  Nothing,  nothing  !  It  just  slipped  out  —  " 

"  Out  of  what  ?  What  are  you  thinking  about  ?  —  I  won- 
der," smiling  shyly,  he  added,  "  if  you  could  be  thinking 
what  I  'ra  thinking  ?  " 

44 1  don't  know  what  you  're  thinking.  I  was  thinking 
about  Barbie.  I  don't  know  as  I  know  of  a  place  where 
there 's  such  a  poor  lookout  for  a  girl  as  Dugdale." 

"  Since  when  ?  " 

"  Oh,  come  ;  I  don't  feel  so  very  much  like  being  teased 
Alvin." 

"  I  guess  I  can  see  that  I  I  always  supposed  —  but,  — 
I  guess  maybe  we  were  mistaken." 

"  I  guess  it  looks  so  ;  I  never  believed  any  of  the  time 
there  was  anything  in  it  —  just  boy  and  girl." 

"  Well,  mother  !  I  call  that  a  pretty  close  shave  for  a 
church  member." 

They  had  been  awake  for  some  hours  in  the  night  try- 
ing to  hide  their  restlessness  from  each  other,  when  Alvin 
spoke. 

44  What  could  we  do  with  Stella,  supposing  we  should 
ever  want  to  make  a  change  here?  " 

His  wife  needed  no  key  to  the  question.  44  Stella  is  going 
to  marry  one  of  those  young  men  before  spring." 

44  That 's  the  difficulty  ;  there  's  too  many." 

44  Well ;  she  's  got  all  the  bigger  choice.  I  should  n't  say 
she  'd  be  easy  to  satisfy  —  I  don't  know  as  she  'd  mind  it 
so  much  as  some  girls  would  if  she  was  n't  altogether  sat- 
isfied. She 's  easygoing ;  she  scares  me  sometimes.  I  don't 
know  as  I  know  where  she  would  stop." 

44  Oh,  well ;  so  far  forth  as  that  goes,  she  won't  have  to 
stop.  There  's  nothing  to  persuade  her  to  begin ;  there  's 
no  strain  on  her,  as  I  can  see." 


58  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  We  can't  see  very  far.  If  we  did  take  her,  we  'd  be 
responsible  —  she 's  a  '  minor.'  " 

"  What  makes  you  so  anxious,  mother  ?  Is  it  worrying 
about  next  spring  ?  I  '11  be  able  to  fix  it  up  somehow.  If 
I  can't,  why,  then  we  '11  sell  out,  if  you  're  willing.  It 's 
better  to  have  little  and  know  it 's  your  own.  I  have  n't 
drawn  a  free  breath,  not  to  say,  for  twenty  years ;  not 
since  father's  will  was  read." 

"  I  can't  see  as  he  did  anything  out  of  the  way."  Silence 
rebuked  her  own  thoughts.  "  It  don't  seem  too  much  to  ask 
a  son  to  look  after  a  sister's  rights  in  her  own  property 
when  she  's  made  a  poor  marry  of  it.  But  I  know  what  a 
burden  it 's  been." 

"  Well,  father  certainly  had  his  reasons.  Never  was 
any  quarrel  as  I  know  of,  but  he  sized  up  Uncle  Demarest 
from  the  start.  If  any  of  Aunt  Penny's  money  was  to  go 
to  her  children  he  did  about  the  only  way  he  could,  unless 
he  appointed  a  trustee  out  of  the  family;  and  he  was 
opposed  to  taking  the  money  out  of  the  estate  then.  But 
it's  a  most  singular  awkward  time  to  settle  up  now; 
times  are  tighter  than  ever  I  knew." 

"  Winter  is  a  poor  time  to  sell,  is  n't  it  ?  " 

"Any  time  is  a  poor  time  when  you  've  got  to  sell." 

"  But  you  have  n't  got  to :  it  won't  come  to  that,  will  it  ?" 

"  It 's  going  to  come  mighty  close  to  it.  I  'd  sell  quick 
enough  if  I  could  get  anything  like  a  fair,  decent  price. 
You  would  n't  make  any  objection,  would  you  ?  " 

"  I  would  sign  anything  you  asked  me  to  sign  !  I  know 
you  've  done  your  best.  I  should  say  the  same  if  it  came 
to  losing  everything  we  have." 

"  It 's  a  great  comfort  to  have  you  feel  so,"  Alvin  ad- 
mitted. "  Father  divided  up  the  property  when  values 


FOR  THE  YOUNG  59 

had  n't  begun  to  shrink  the  way  they  have  lately.  And  he 
took  out  a  big  chunk  in  a  prideful  way  when  he  paid  off 
poor  Mary,  so  to  speak.  All  that  was  settled  up  at  his 
death  's  took  its  chance  since  ;  but  the  Demarests  will 
have  to  have  the  round  sum :  it  takes  a  good  deal  more  to 
meet  it  now  than  father  allowed  for." 

"  I  don't  think  everybody  would  be  so  scrupulous,  — 
I  really  don't.  Some  would  let  them  take  their  share  of 
the  shrinkages  too." 

"  No ;  that  could  n't  be  in  this  case.  I  know  what  he 
intended  :  he  could  n't  foresee.  Now,  you  try  to  sleep  and 
stop  thinking.  If  't  was  summer,  we  'd  hear  the  birds 
begin  to  twitter." 

"  Did  you  ever  notice  how  spring  is  always  the  time  for 
things  to  happen  ?  Not  trouble  always,  but  something 
upsetting." 

"  Natural  enough  ;  people  have  leisure  to  think  in  win- 
ter. They  do  like  nature ;  gather  up  their  forces  and  lay 
out  the  future.  A  man  can  stand  the  same  round  every  day 
while  he  keeps  busy,  but  when  it  comes  to  sitting  by  tlie 
stove  and  thinking,  he  's  pretty  apt  to  shape  things  for  a 
move.  When  he  gets  to  work  again,  he  gets  interested  in 
the  old  job  —  to  see  what  he  can  make  of  it  this  year. 
But  if  the  job  quits  him  —  how  then  ?  Things  are  narrow- 
ing down  here  for  us  ;  there  won't  be  much  more  than 
standing-room  left  pretty  soon." 

"  I  'm  ready  as  soon  as  you  are,  but  don't  let 's  say 
anything." 

"  You  won't  have  to,  I  guess !  Plenty  others  will  be 
talking  before  you  know  it.  That  old  Mrs.  Black  snapped 
up  a  word  I  said,  just  gassing  ;  but  she  took  it  in  earnest 
—  Well,  it  don't  matter." 


CHAPTER  VI 

A   SALE  AND   AN   ENGAGEMENT 

To  be  the  highest  tax-payer  in  Dugdale  might  not  be 
considered  a  very  proud  distinction,  but  such  as  it  was  it 
belonged  to  a  young  man  whom  Barbie  refused,  in  the 
first  flower  of  her  saucy  'teens.  She  never  gave  him  a  mo- 
ment's consideration ;  her  father  did.  Mrs.  Hannington 
said  of  him,  "  His  hands  perspire  and  he  has  got  no  chin : 
no  girl  could  fall  in  love  with  him,  Alvin  !  "  But  her  true 
reasons  probably  went  deeper  than  such  a  speech  as  this. 

There  was  a  year  when  young  Hitchcock  ceased  to  call 
and  did  not  see  Barbie  Hannington  when  his  sleigh  cut 
around  corners  where  she  waited  to  cross,  under  the  wintry 
elms.  Next  year  he  met  Stella  at  the  church  socials  and 
joined  her  court  of  overheated  swains  around  the  stove. 
Very  soon  he  became  a  regular  caller.  That  he  continued 
to  meet  him  there  often  drove  Jimmy  across  the  hall  into 
the  family  sitting-room.  Between  the  two  rooms  and  the 
two  suitors,  Barbie's  past  pursued  her  ludicrously.  She 
covered  her  rejected's  first  defeat,  and  left  him  a  fair  field 
in  what  she  believed  was  a  hopeless  second  venture : 
there  are  so  many  things  we  decide  for  others,  judging 
them  by  ourselves. 

Stella  made  no  pretence  of  admiring  the  great  catch,  as 
he  was  called,  but  she  allowed  him  to  take  the  seat  beside 
her  on  the  small  sofa,  and  if  she  were  unaware  of  the  poor 
youth's  trance-like  condition,  no  one  else  present  could 
have  been. 


A   SALE  AND  AN   ENGAGEMENT        61 

He  was  calling  upon  her  the  second  week  after  "  coloni- 
zation Sunday ;  "  they  had  the  front  parlor  to  themselves. 

"  Suppose,"  he  said,  easing  the  tightness  of  his  waist- 
coat by  laying  one  arm  across  the  sofa-back ;  "  suppose 
your  uncle  should  go  to  Oregon;  what  would  you  do 
then?" 

"  — '  Poor  thing ! '  Stella  supplied  lazily.  "  Suppose  we 
should  all  go  to  the  moon !  "  Her  profile  as  she  leaned 
back  was  not  three  inches  from  his  huge,  red,  dangling- 
paw.  If  he  raised  one  finger  it  would  touch  her  perfect 
cheek  and  leave  a  white  pressure  mark  for  the  pink  to 
overflow  ;  the  idea  fascinated  him. 

"  I  am  serious,"  he  brought  out.  "  Everybody  V  talking 
about  it.  I  asked  him  the  other  day  if  there  's  anything  in 
it.  '  There  is  n't,'  he  says,  '  but  there  mighty  quick  would 
be,'  says  he,  '  if  I  could  raise  ten  thousand  on  this  place 
before  spring,' " 

Stella  began  to  show  attention :  the  fixed  sum  impressed 
her. 

"I  told  him  I  guessed  it  could  be  raised,  but  it  would 
take  more  than  the  place,  if  he  meant  the  land  only. 

"  '  How  much  more  ? '  he  says. 

"  I  put  in  the  house  and  buildings  and  some  lots  on  the 
marshes ;  they  '11  come  up  some  day. 

"  '  Cash  down,  or  future  payments  ? '  he  wanted  to 
know.  'Cash  down, 'I  told  him  I  meant.  We  were  stand- 
ing close  to  the  horse-block  and  he  doubled  his  fist  and 
brought  it  down  —  I  could  see  his  eyes  water  —  '  You  may 
have  it!'  he  said,  just  as  quick  as  that,  'if  you  can  dig  up 
the  money  soon  enough.  If  I  don't  get  off  with  Parson 
Yardley  I  don't  know  as  I  want  to  go.'  —  That  looks 
serious,  don't  it  ?  " 


62  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

" '  And  what  will  poor  robin  do  then,  poor  thing  ?  ' ' 
Stella  raised  her  eyes  ;  she  did  not  smile  this  time. 

"  Oh,  please  answer  me  !  I  'm  not  humbugging." 

"  Can't  you  give  poor  robin  a  minute  to  think  it  over  ? 
—  no ;  I  'm  not  a  robin  —  robins  are  such  cheerful  brutes  ; 
they  get  along  anyhow.  I  'm  a  swallow,  from  the  South. 
I  think  I  am  the  '  one  swallow '  that  does  n't  make  a 
summer." 

"  Where  you  are  is  summer  enough  for  me,"  said  the 
infatuated  Horace. 

"That's  poetry,"  she  said;  "but  it  doesn't  answer 
swallow's  question." 

"  I  can  answer  it,  if  you  '11  let  me.  Is  n't  this  a  pretty 
good  old  nest  —  for  two?  I  want  to  know  what  you'd 
rather  do  ?  Go  with  them,  or  stay  here  —  " 

"  Had  n't  I  better  wait  till  I  am  asked  ?  "  she  cut  him 
off. 

"'Asked'!  Which?" 

"  Both —  Suppose  they  don't  want  to  take  me?" 

"  You  are  asked  to  stay.  You  don't  need  to  go  unless 
you  'd  rather.  I  ask  you  now,  which  you  want  to  do  —  go 
to  Oregon  or  stay  in  this  house  — 

Again  she  broke  in.  "  What  have  you  to  say  about 
this  house?" 

"  I  am  the  man  who  can  dig  up  the  money,  if  you  say  so." 
Horace  spoke  between  heavy  breaths.  His  face  was  pale, 
yet  wet  with  the  crisis  of  his  hopes.  "  I  would  do  it  for 
you  —  to  keep  you  here  —  if  you  're  willing  to  stay  — 
with  me." 

"I  see,"  said  Stella  slowly; — "if  I  understand  you," 
she  added  to  gain  time. 

"  Oh,  understand !  What  do  I  come  here  for  ?  If  they 


A  SALE  AND  AN  ENGAGEMENT        63 

want  to  go  and  you  don't  and  I  want  you  so  I  can  hardly 
live,  —  why  is  n't  this  a  good  way  to  settle  it  ?  Here  's 
the  house  —  I  will  deed  it  to  —  to  my  wife.  It  won't  go 
out  of  the  family.  Is  n't  it  clever  ?  Oh,  say  you  '11  let  me 
buy  it  in  for  you,  Stella  ?  " 

She  looked  dully  at  the  floor.  "It  is  often  done,  of 
course.  Girls  marry  for  a  home  —  what  else  can  we  do  ! 
Swallows  you  know  are  all  wing;  they  have  poor  little 
feet ;  they  can  't  scratch  for  a  living  —  But  I  believe  we 
are  expected  to  lie  about  it." 

" '  Lie  about  it '  ?  " 

"Oh,  you  know!  —  We  don't  call  it  marrying  for  a 
home !  " 

"  Ah,  don't  talk  like  that !  " 

"What  is  there  to  say?  Don't  you  want  me  to  be 
honest  ?  " 

"  If  you  take  me,  I  am  not  asking  you  why ;  your  rea- 
sons are  your  own  affair." 

"You  won't  even  ask  if  I  love  you?  You  are  easily 
satisfied ! " 

His  face  showed  distress  that  should  have  humiliated 
her ;  perhaps  it  did.  "  No ;  you  are  generous,"  she  added. 
"  I  ought  n't  to  have  said  that.  You  are  offering  every- 
thing to  a  cross,  homesick  girl.  Give  me  a  little  time. 
There  are  so  many  new  ideas  to  get  used  to  all  at  once. 
How  am  I  to  know  if  they  really  are  going,  if  they  won't 
say  anything?  I  have  n't  heard  a  word  of  this." 

"  They  can't  tell  themselves  till  they  know  they  have 
sold  the  place.  I  don't  go  a  step  further  in  that,  unless  I 
do  it  for  you.  If  I  can't  have  you,  what  do  I  want  of  a 
place  like  this  ?  " 

"  Then  I  am  to  decide  —  about  Oregon  —  for  them  ?  " 


64  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  It  comes  to  about  that ;  you  leave  out  yourself  —  for 
me." 

"  You  leave  out  the  place." 

"  Of  course  —  you  get  the  place  and  me.  I  get  the  one 
thing  in  this  world  money  won't  buy  me,  if  I  had  all  the 
money  I  want." 

"  Your  logic  seems  a  little  out,  but  it 's  polite,"  she  said. 
"  You  are  very,  very  kind.  But  you  are  going  to  be  aw- 
fully cheated." 

He  caught  her  by  the  hand  clumsily  and  kissed  her 
wrist.  She  shrank  from  his  unsteady,  clammy  touch.  Her 
spirits  sank  low  in  the  silence. 

"You  know,"  she  said  at  last,  with  her  rising  inflection 
that  made  her  words  so  casual,  —  "you  know  I  can't 
promise  for  myself,  how  I  may  take  things ;  I  never  can 
tell  what  I  may  do,  or  be,  on  trial." 

"Is  that  all?  Then  I'll  take  you  on  trial  and  keep 
what  I  can  get." 

"  And  trust  to  luck  for  the  rest  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  don't  know  but  I  'd  almost  pray  to  heaven  for 
the  rest,"  he  answered  thickly. 

"  Oh,  don't !  Don't  bring  in  poor  heaven ;  we  must 
manage  this  ourselves.  But  see  here  ;  I  have  n't  answered 
you  yet :  we  're  only  talking." 

"  I  '11  have  to  do  something  besides  talk,  you  know,  if 
they  get  off  by  spring.  Suppose  I  do  buy  the  place  —  what 
can  I  depend  on,  from  you  —  anything?" 

"  Buy  it,"  she  said  —  "  they  want  to  go." 

"  But  suppose  they  persuade  you  at  the  last  moment  to 
go,  too  ?  Then  where  am  I  ?  Promise  you  will  not  go  to 
Oregon.  I  won't  ask  you  anything  more,  to-night." 

"  If  it  comes  to  that,"  she  drawled,  looking  at  him  with 


A   SALE  AND   AN   ENGAGEMENT        65 

dangerous  sweetness,  "  I  'd  sooner  drown  myself  in  the 
river  when  the  ice  melts  than  go  to  Oregon." 

"  Then  it  shall  come  to  that !  I  '11  see  that  it  does." 

"So,"  she  said,  "you  would  take  me  if  I  chose  you  in- 
stead of  drowning?  Well,  you  are  humble !  " 

"Call  it  what  you  like,  but  don't  play  with  me  too 
long.  Do  you  like  me  —  any  ?  " 

"  Not  much,"  she  laughed  bewitchingly.  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  expect  little;  verily  they  shall  not  be  disap- 
pointed." 

"  I  have  n't  told  you  what  I  expect :  I  may  expect  a 
good  deal  some  day.  You  can  be  stingy  with  me  for  a 
while  —  " 

"For  a  while,"  Stella  echoed  vaguely. 

She  sat  forward,  —  arms  on  her  silken  knees.  The 
long  chain  of  dark,  crooked  garnets  she  wore  swung  heav- 
ily into  her  lap.  He  lifted  it,  fingering  the  beads,  turning 
one  on  the  string.  She  shivered  and  drew  back.  "  I  am 
very  stingy,"  she  said,  "  when  I  feel  like  it,  and  I  want 
you  to  remember  that  I  can  cheat  like  anything ! " 

The  first  clear  moonlight  nights  were  come.  She  asked 
Aunt  Silence  if  there  was  any  reason  why  she  should  n't  go 
sleigh-riding  with  Horace  Hitchcock.  Aunt  Silence  opened 
her  eyes  a  little:  "Why,  I  don't  know  of  any,  if  you 
want  to  go,"  she  said.  The  emphasis  might  have  told 
Stella  if  she  cared  to  know,  how  her  suitor  was  rated  in 
the  family;  but  that  was  a  small  item,  now,  in  the  sum  of 
her  hurried,  desperate  calculations. 

Horace  bore  out  an  armful  of  hot  soap-stones  for  her 
feet.  She  borrowed  Aunt  Silence's  muff  and  wore  the 
black  velvet  hood  Barbie  made  her  for  a  New  Year's  gift ; 
it  was  lined  with  white  satin  and  had  white  satin  strings. 


66  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  declare !  "  said  Aunt  Silence  as  they  drove  away, 
"that  looks  as  if  it  might  come  to  something." 

It  was  late  when  Stella  returned  in  wild  spirits,  her 
hair  blown  about  her  brilliant  face,  to  which  color  added 
a  last  dazzling  charm.  For  a  few  days,  after  her  evening 
of  real  or  pretended  joyousness,  she  seemed  remote  and 
thoughtful ;  and  then  the  village  heard  of  the  sale  and  the 
engagement  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

Jimmy  felt  sick  over  the  letter  in  which  his  father  made 
both  announcements.  There  had  been  moments  when  he 
dreamed  deliriously  of  risking  the  peril  of  Stella's  answer 
to  the  question  always  back  of  his  lips.  Now  he  had  her 
answer,  and  another  had  the  risk ;  that  the  other  man  was 
Hitchcock  couldn't  appeal  to  his  own  modesty  nor  his 
respect  for  Stella;  he  was  too  sure  of  her  lazy,  outspoken 
preferences  not  to  scorch  her  with  his  contempt  in  other 
ways  for  this.  But  no  less  he  was  miserable.  He  kept  away 
from  Dugdale,  doing  his  father's  business  at  long  range. 
It  was  known  now  that  he  had  been  accepted  as  one  of 
the  pilgrims.  Mr.  Yardley  winced  at  the  congratulations 
heaped  upon  him ;  many  were  anxious  to  learn  how  Jimmy 
"  stood  now  "  on  the  vital  question,  but  they  did  not  learn 
from  his  father. 

Barbara  patiently  helped  her  mother  in  the  tearing-up 
of  the  home.  Hours  were  spent  over  trunks  in  dark  attics, 
sorting,  condensing,  casting  away  the  family  past.  Senti- 
ment and  prudence,  small  habits  of  economy,  cutting  me- 
mentoes that  had  lost  their  sting  with  time,  —  all  must  be 
exchanged  for  the  traveller's  cynic  wisdom :  nothing  which 
they  could  live  without.  Silence  grew  thin  with  the  agony 
of  selection ;  we  do  not  become  wise  in  a  day.  Certain 
large  parcels  and  crates  of  furniture  and  trunks  were  to 


A  SALE  AND  AN  ENGAGEMENT        67 

be  left  in  grandma's  care  at  William's  —  William's  folks 
had  been  through  it  themselves.  These  had  reference 
to  Barbie's  future,  which  was  never  discussed.  Other 
things,  some  of  the  handsomest  and  least  personal,  were 
conferred  upon  Stella  as  wedding-gifts,  who  took  no  plea- 
sure in  the  acceptance :  all  this  rending  and  severing  that 
avoided  sympathy,  going  on  around  her,  singularly  em- 
phasized her  isolation  in  the  house  so  soon  to  be  her  own. 
But  the  only  words  spoken  were  careful,  gentle  ones,  as  if 
these  had  been  the  days  between  a  death  and  the  burial. 


CHAPTEK  VII 

THE   UMBRELLA 

FEBRUARY  came  in  dark  and  sodden  with  rain.  It  was 
a  more  than  dubious  afternoon.  Stella  was  starting  for  a 
walk ;  her  aunt  met  her  in  the  hall  and  they  sparred  a 
moment  about  the  weather. 

"  You  need  an  umbrella  more  than  you  will  that  muff," 
said  Aunt  Silence :  the  muff  was  her  own,  which  Stella 
borrowed  so  constantly  she  sometimes  dispensed  with  the 
form  of  asking  for  it ;  she  threw  it  on  a  chair. 

"  I  won't  take  it  if  you  think  it  will  get  wet." 

"  I  'm  thinking  of  you ;  I  don't  want  you  should  get 
wet." 

"  I  'd  rather  be  wet  than  carry  an  umbrella,"  said  Stella. 
"  I  'd  rather  not  go  at  all." 

"You'll  get  your  wish,  then.  I  can  tell  you  it's  going 
to  pour  in  less  than  twenty  minutes." 

It  did  —  and  Stella  was  caught  four  long  blocks  from 
the  house  on  her  return.  Sheets  of  rain  met  her  in  the 
face  ;  the  wind  blew  her  bonnet  back  ;  puddles  that  formed 
by  magic  spattered  her  skirts  as  the  showers  churned 
them. 

A  man  striding  fast  overtook  her,  looked  at  her  keenly 
as  she  gave  him  room  to  pass,  and  offered  her  a  share 
of  his  umbrella.  One  bedraggled  woman  is  much  like 
another  seen  from  behind ;  few  women  could  be  as  pretty 
as  Stella  was  that  moment,  looking  up  —  her  face  like  a 
storm-beaten  rose. 


THE   UMBRELLA  69 

There  was  something  alien  and  extraordinary  in  the 
man's  appearance ;  she  could  not  define  it.  It  struck  her 
more  keenly,  perhaps,  by  contrast  with  the  village  types 
she  had  grown  used  to ;  the  rusty  store-keepers,  narrow- 
chested  clerks,  and  long-lipped  farmers  with  their  big 
noses,  and  mild,  shy  eyes. 

The  man's  look  was  bold,  egregious ;  his  gaze  conveyed 
a  challenge  and  a  declaration,  the  substance  of  both 
grossly  personal.  Stella  was  able  to  bear  it. 

She  bridled  and  turned  her  face  away;  but  she  had 
met  his  eyes. 

He  fell  into  step  beside  her. 

""We  are  going  the  same  way,  it  seems.  Can  you  tell 
me  how  far  I  am  from  Mr.  Alvin  Hannington's  ?  " 

"  Certainly  ;  I  can  take  you  to  the  house." 

"  You  are  going  there  ?  " 

"  I  live  there." 

"'Ware  mud! — "  The  stranger  caught  her  towards 
him  with  his  free  arm  strongly  ;  she  had  nearly  stepped 
into  a  puddle  in  their  path  :  —  "I  call  that  luck !  " 

"  So  do  I !  "  said  she.  "Thank  you.  I  've  no  gum  shoes 
on." 

"  No  ;  I  meant  the  other  thing  —  the  coincidence.  I 
overtake  a  young  lady  ;  I  say  to  myself  (with  all  respect), 
4  What  a  face  to  pass  and  never  see  again  ! '  And  lo,  she 
is  bound  for  the  same  house  !  She  lives  there !  A  coinci- 
dence is  a  thing  I  never  lose  sight  of." 

"  What  do  you  do  with  them  ?  " 

"  What  do  I  do  with  them !  "  he  roared  over  her  ques- 
tion. "  I  watch  them ;  I  read  them  as  the  ancients  read 
the  flights  of  birds.  I  like  to  have  'em  perch  on  my  ban- 
ner when  I  go  a  new  road." 


70  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Is  this  a  new  road  ?  "  she  asked  dazed  by  his  audacity. 
"This  is  '  Hannington  Road.'  " 

"  I  am  going  to  see  your  —  father  ?  " 

"  —  Uncle,"  she  corrected. 

"  Your  uncle.  We  shall  be  taking  the  same  road  —  all 
of  us  —  next  month.  Is  n't  that  a  strange  coincidence  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Stella,  "  are  you  one  of  the  Oregon  party  ?  " 

"  I  am  —  rather ! "  She  remained  silent,  puzzled  by  his 
laugh. 

"I  am  the  temporal  head,"  he  elucidated,  "of  Mr. 
Yardley's  church  caravan  —  he  being  the  spiritual.  I  sel- 
dom aspire  to  such  very  select  company  on  my  travels, 
but  your  evangelists  make  it  worth  my  while.  Mr.  Yard- 
ley  realizes  he  could  n't  guide  this  expedition  over  the 
road  he  is  going ;  for  some  reason,  he  prefers  not  to  join 
the  big  train  that  will  start  from  Independence  in  March." 

"  I  thought  they  were  going  to  start  in  March  ?  " 

"  They  are  —  but  why  '  they  '  ?  Why  not  4  we '  ?  " 

"Oh,  I'm  not  going." 

"You  —  not  going?  Then  you  don't  live  with  your 
uncle  ?  " 

"  I  do,  now  —  but  I  shall  not  go  with  them  to  Oregon. 
I  have  other  plans." 

"  They  must  be  mistaken  ones." 

Stella  laughed  in  spite  of  herself. 

"  I  assure  you  there  is  everything  in  omens :  never  fly 
in  the  face  of  a  coincidence  —  Here  's  a  bad  bit !  "  They 
were  come  to  a  road  crossing,  wide  and  sploshy.  "  Take 
the  umbrella  and  skip  on  ahead  ;  we  shall  make  bad  work 
of  it  together.  —  Now,  tell  me,"  he  continued,  at  her  side 
again,  relieving  her  of  the  umbrella,  "  what  are  these 
plans  that  keep  you  from  the  greatest  adventure  of  the 


THE  UMBKELLA  71 

day  —  of  any  day  ?  Don't  you  know  this  kind  of  travel 
will  be  done  with  in  a  very  few  years  ?  The  Oregon  pil- 
grims will  beat  a  trail  as  wide  as  the  road  to  Rome." 

"  Oh,  I  wish  the  wind  would  n't  blow  so !  I  can  hardly 
hear  you ! " 

"  Take  my  arm :  —  now  can  you  hear  ?  You  will  go  ?  — 
won't  you  ?  You  must  never  defy  a  coincidence." 

"  But  your  co-in-ci-dences  are  not  mine,"  said  Stella 
confusedly,  pretending  to  stammer. 

"  They  will  be ;  you  shall  see.  Fate  never  offers  us  the 
same  thing  twice." 

"  You  are  so  funny  !  I  'm  going  to  be  married.  Is  that 
another  coincidence  ?  " 

"  Married  !  Not  to  any  one  here  !  " 

"  You  are  mistaken  again." 

"  Upon  my  soul !  How  did  he  do  it  ?  —  Money,  impu- 
dence ?  —  Did  he  tire  you  out  ?  Because  you  need  n't  tell 
me  there  are  men  in  this  place  fit  to  win  a  girl  like  you." 

"Oh,  you  are  dreadful !  " 

"  This  is  one  of  the  days  when  I  am  very  much  alive, 
and  I  've  no  time  for  beating  around  bushes." 

"There  are  remarkable  men  in  Dugdale." 

"  Are  you  going  to  marry  one  of  the  remarkable  ones  ? 
If  you  are,  I  guess  his  age  to  be  about  Mr.  Yardley's.  It 
must  take  a  long  time  for  a  man  to  make  himself  remark- 
able, with  the  opportunities  you  have  here." 

"  Let  us  walk  faster." 

"  I  think  we  are  walking  too  fast :  you  are  out  of 
breath  ;  —  lean  on  me.  Now ;  let  me  whisper  you  a  pro- 
phecy." 

"  Based  on  coincidence  ?  " 

"  On  experience  and  knowledge  of  faces.  You  will  never 


72  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

marry  that  man,  and  you  will  go  to  Oregon.  Now,  walk 
as  fast  as  you  like  ;  —  you  cannot  walk  away  from  that.  I 
am  a  wizard  in  some  things.  I  know  my  fellow-travellers 
when  we  meet.  I  don't  meet  them  every  day  and  I  never 
lose  sight  of  one  I  have  recognized.  Tell  me  how  long  you 
had  it  in  mind,  before  you  set  out  for  this  walk?  " 

"Ten  minutes,  perhaps  — I  don't  remember." 

"  It  was  scarcely  an  afternoon  for  a  lady  to  go  out. 
Why  did  n't  you  carry  an  umbrella  ?  " 

"Because  —  I  was  told  to !  And  I  hate  to  carry  things." 

"Obstinacy  and  laziness  ;  two  queenly  attributes  in 
woman;  many  things  are  set  in  motion  by  those  who  re- 
fuse to  move  themselves.  If  you  had  taken  advice  and 
brought  your  own  umbrella  I  'd  have  had  no  excuse  to 
offer  mine.  Fate,  you  see — '  co-in-cidence.'  Just  about 
the  time  you  decided  to  go  out,  I  left  my  tavern  on  the 
impulse  to  call  upon  your  uncle.  I  came,  by  appointment, 
to  see  Mr.  Yardley  !  " 

"  Here  's  the  house,"  said  Stella. 

He  opened  the  gate  for  her,  extending  his  arm  with 
the  umbrella  to  shelter  her  steps,  and  bent  a  little  as  she 
passed  under. 

"  Young  lady,  if  you  do  not  go  to  Oregon,  neither  do  I 
go.  Many  matters  hang  on  my  decision.  Think  this  over." 

Stella  flew  up  the  walk  without  speaking. 

She  thought  at  first  she  would  not  go  down  to  tea  — 
the  stranger  having  been  asked  to  stop.  She  was  fasci- 
nated yet  afraid ;  but  she  could  not  finally  deny  herself 
the  excitement  of  meeting  him  again  under  the  restraint 
of  others  present.  She  hesitated,  too,  about  her  dress  — 
whether  to  set  off  the  beauty  his  eye  had  seized  so  boldly, 
or  to  minimize  it  for  the  sake  of  Horace,  and  delicacy. 


THE  UMBRELLA  73 

Here  again  temptation  conquered ;  it  was  so  long  since 
she  had  met  any  one  who  understood  the  exciting  game 
they  were  playing. 

Barbie  watched  her  curiously  as  she  turned  over  her 
necklaces,  trying  one  and  another  with  the  peculiar  oys- 
ter white  of  the  silk  she  had  laid  out.  She  had  not  worn 
white  before,  and  Horace  was  not  coming  that  evening. 
Dressing  up  for  a  stranger  —  any  man  that  came  along ! 
Barbie  justly  severe  as  usual,  was  not  this  time  quite  cor- 
rect. This  stranger  was  not  "  any  man  "  ;  —  his  personal- 
ity had  taken  an  extraordinary  hold  on  Stella,  pining  for 
the  perilous  form  of  amusement  its  daring  promised  her. 
She  knew  quite  well  what  she  risked,  but  peace  of  mind 
was  not  hers  in  any  case  ;  she  was  restless  as  all  are  who 
are  in  doubt  about  their  course,  and  as  much  in  the  power 
of  those  who  have  no  doubts.  This  man,  she  felt,  had  no 
scruples  either.  The  fact  did  not  repel  her :  it  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  demands  of  her  nature  which  was  passive 
in  deed,  though  abandoned  in  imagination. 

"  You  look  quite  like  summer,  Stella."  Her  uncle 
greeted  her  with  a  pleased  surprise,  when  she  came  in 
before  tea  and  slipped  smoothly  past  him  to  her  seat  by 
the  fire.  "Mr.  Bradburn,  my  niece,  Miss  Mutrie,  —  from 
Jamaica,  British  West  Indies.  No,  she  's  only  half  Eng- 
lish :  half  of  her  is  Hannington  —  my  half.  She 's  my 
sister's  child.  —  I  'm  glad  to  see  you  out  of  black,  at  last, 
my  dear.  The  women  oughtn't  to  add  to  it  with  their 
clothes  when  the  weather 's  so  gloomy." 

"  We  '11  show  her  sunshine  after  we  get  her  out  on  the 
plains." 

"  Yes  —  well;  she  is  n't  going  to  be  one  of  us.  There  's 
a  young  man  here  has  persuaded  her  to  stay." 


74  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Bradburn  looked  meaningly  at  Stella  and  smiled. 

"  Do  you  take  along  any  women  folks  of  your  own,  Mr. 
Bradburn?" 

Stella  raised  her  eyes  and  let  them  fall.  She  felt  to  her 
disgust  that  she  was  blushing.  There  was  a  second's  pause. 

"  You  have  a  family,  I  presume  ?  "  Alvin  changed  the 
question. 

"  All  the  family  I  possess,  sir,  I  can  put  under  my  hat," 
said  Bradburn,  motioning  as  if  he  lifted  it  to  the  company, 
"  and  I  have  never  regretted  the  fact  less  than  at  this  mo- 
ment," he  added  with  marked  significance. 

Stella's  eyelids  flickered ;  a  pair  of  hawk's  eyes  pounced 
upon  hers  and  hovered  there.  She  made  an  excuse  to  leave 
the  room.  As  Bradburn  opened  the  door  for  her  she 
tripped  on  the  mat ;  he  caught  her  hand  to  steady  her. 
"  Do  you  know  what  freedom  means  to  a  man  in  my  con- 
dition ?  "  he  murmured. 

"  Right  before  uncle  !  "  She  paced  the  bedroom  floor 
alone,  exulting  in  the  wretch's  extravagance.  This  was  the 
sort  of  wooing  she  had  dreamt  of.  "  He  must  be  crazy,  or 
else  I  am."  Horace's  image  came  before  her  and  she  shiv- 
ered with  loathing.  She  trembled,  with  something  else. 
The  man  was  terrible ;  what  would  he  do  next ! 

Barbie  came  up,  after  giving  the  table  its  last  touches, 
to  look  herself  over  a  little :  puritan  prinking,  Stella  called 
it,  —  it  was  so  embarrassed  and  deprecatory. 

"You're  ashamed  to  see  your  own  face  in  the  glass 
for  fear  some  one  should  think  that  you  think  you  are 
pretty  ! "  she  would  tease.  But  to-night  there  was  no  play- 
ing. The  girls  glanced  at  each  other  in  silence ;  a  strain 
was  in  the  atmosphere. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BETWEEN   TWO    STOOLS 

THE  deed  of  the  Hannington  place  had  not  been  ac- 
cepted nor  signed  yet,  but  ten  per  cent  of  the  purchase 
money  was  in  a  lawyer's  hands  as  a  guarantee  of  good 
faith. 

One  Saturday  afternoon,  Horace  Hitchcock  called  early 
and  asked  Mr.  Hannington  to  walk  out  with  him  a  little 
way.  They  went  down  to  the  barn  and  sat  in  the  carriage- 
room  and  had  a  short  and  dreadful  talk. 

Hitchcock,  with  shameful  tears,  told  how  he  had  been 
jilted :  Stella  refused  to  marry  him,  after  all.  The  place 
—  to  buy  it  now  would  make  him  a  laughing  stock.  He 
asked  to  draw  out  of  his  bargain. 

Alvin  said,  "  Of  course  !  and  you  don't  lose  your  forfeit, 
either.  One  of  my  family  has  cheated  you  —  I  don't  want 
your  money,  too.  No  ;  I  won't  keep  it :  we  're  humiliated 
enough.  What  does  she  say  for  herself  ?  " 

Horace's  words  need  not  be  recorded.  But  he  was  mag- 
nanimous enough  to  own  that  Stella  would  never  say  she 
loved  him,  and  had  warned  him  that  she  could  "  cheat  like 
anything." 

"  Oh  she  can  !  "  said  her  uncle.  "  That 's  evident.  I 
don't  know  where  she  gets  it  from.  If  there 's  any  of  it  in 
me,  now  's  no  time  to  fool  with  it.  I  shan't  take  your 
money,  Horace.  You  've  been  dealt  hardly  with  among 
us." 

But  Alvin's  face  was  dust  gray.    He  sat  turning  over 


76  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

the  loose  contents  of  his  pocket  with  the  hand  he  carried 
there.  The  men  could  not  look  at  each  other. 

"  Well ! "  he  coughed  and  spat,  and  spoke  in  a  dry, 
grating  voice.  "  It 's  partly  my  own  fault.  To  be  honest,  I 
never  believed  she  cared  for  you  much.  In  a  father's  place 
I  'd  ought  to  have  made  you  both  pause  on  it  a  while.  I  'm 
obliged  to  say  I  saw  my  own  side  too  clear.  It  came  like 
an  answer  to  prayer ;  but  it  did  n't  come  from  the  right 
place,  Horace,  or  it  would  have  turned  out  better.  I 
should  n't  have  let  her  go  ahead  and  do  so ;  her  aunt  I 
know  will  feel  it  too.  We,  both  of  us,  —  tell  the  truth, — 
were  too  Almighty  glad  to  get  her  off  our  hands.  She 's  a 
singular  piece :  pleasant  as  the  day,  and  easy  to  live  with, 
but  undependable  and  shiftless  and  vain  —  vain  as  sin. 
I  don't  care  if  I  do  say  it." 

"  You  can  say  it  to  me !  I  know  her  —  now,"  said  poor 
Horace.  "  I  'm  sore  —  I  'm  sore  about  it.  I  meant  to  do 
well  by  her.  She  never  would  repent  if  she  'd  give  me  but 
the  chance." 

"  Well,  see  if  she  won't.  Maybe  it 's  just  a  freak.  Give 
her  time,  Horace.  I  '11  get  her  aunt  to  talk  to  her.  She 
may  not  realize  —  " 

"  No,  no :  I  could  n't  go  through  with  it  again.  I  could  n't 
trust  her.  I  don't  want  her  over-persuaded  nor  accused 
nor  frightened.  If  she  don't  want  me,  let  her  go." 

"  Well,  you  shan't  be  mocked  with  the  place  on  your 
hands.  I'm  sorry,  man.  But  there's  this  to  say  on  her 
side :  she  lost  her  mother  when  she  was  four  years  old. 
Her  father  did  n't  amount  to  anything  !  —  he  left  her  at 
loose  ends.  It  wa'n't  a  nice  set  of  folks  she  lived  with. 
I  don't  mean  to  rake  up  the  man's  past,  now  it 's  done 
with,  but  he  left  things  in  a  scandalous  mess.  We  can't 


BETWEEN  TWO   STOOLS  77 

go  into  it  —  women,  and  dabbling  in  the  slave  traffic :  —  he 
was  better  acquainted  with  the  Congo  coast  and  the  har- 
bor of  New  Orleans  than  ever  he  was  with  any  of  the 
China  ports,  though  the  China  trade  was  what  he  boasted 
of." 

Supported  by  his  good  pride  about  the  forfeit  money, 
Alvin  postponed  for  a  little  his  own  situation  ;  but  he  faced 
it  —  he  and  Silence  faced  it  together,  in  the  long  hours  of 
the  night.  Their  Oregon  plans  were  in  ruins  ;  and  as  he 
had  relied  on  the  sale  for  means  to  meet  the  legacies  due 
the  first  week  in  March,  no  other  arrangements  had  been 
completed.  No  possible  ones  could  be  made  now — the 
place  must  go  at  auction.  This  was  a  thing  without  prece- 
dent in  the  family  since  the  first  house  was  built  to  shelter 
the  first  of  the  name  in  America. 

It  was  easy  for  Barbie  not  to  speak  of  something  she 
was  not  supposed  to  know,  but  Aunt  Silence  talked  to 
Stella  in  whatever  room  they  found  themselves  alone. 
She  tried  to  read  the  girl,  and  learn  if  her  mind  was  indeed 
made  up  ;  if  she  realized  what  she  had  done,  what  she  had 
lost,  herself,  and  how  little  remained.  Stella  appeared  to 
be  sublimely  indifferent  to  the  future. 

"Even  if  we  were  able  to  go,  I  don't  see  how  we  could 
take  you,  Stella,  unless  you  find  you  can  profit  by  this  trial 
in  the  right  direction.  Mr.  Yardley  is  averse  to  taking  any 
grown  person  who  is  n't  a  church  member." 

"How  about  his  son?" 

"Jimmy  isn't  taken  —  he  goes.  He's  a  man.  I  under- 
stand he  gave  his  father  fair  notice  he  was  going  anyhow. 
It 's  different  with  a  minor.  Well ;  we  'd  be  responsible. 
But  if  you  can't  ever  know  your  own  mind,  how 's  any- 
body to  answer  for  you  ?  " 


78  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  If  I  were  to  say  I  was  ready  to  join  the  church  now,  no 
one  would  believe  me  ; "  Stella  smiled  bitterly.  "  They 
would  think  I  did  it,  as  I  promised  to  marry  —  for  a 
home!" 

"  Oh,  don't!  "  said  Mrs.  Hannington. 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  can  go  back  to  Jamaica,  I  sup- 
pose." 

"  You  know  you  can't.  Your  uncle  would  n't  hear  of  it ; 
and  there 's  nothing  there  for  you.  —  It 's  hard  to  say  where 
any  of  us  will  go." 

Stella  went  over  to  her  aunt's  chair  and  stood  beside 
her  patiently,  in  deference  to  her  tears.  She  would  have 
liked  to  weep  herself,  but  she  had  no  real  sense  of  the 
trouble  which  oppressed  every  one  about  her. 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  bring  him  back  and  tell  him  I  will 
marry  him  ?  " 

"  Mercy,  no !  Why  should  I  want  you  to  do  wrong?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do,"  said  Stella.  "  I  don't  see 
what  I  ought  to  have  done.  You  were  willing  I  should 
marry  him  at  first ;  did  you  think  then  I  loved  him  ?  Did 
you  ever  think  so,  Aunt  Silence  ?  " 

There  was  no  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question ;  Aunt 
Silence  was  humbled  by  it,  but  thought  no  better  of  Stella, 
the  source  of  so  many  perplexities.  The  girl  sat  upstairs 
alone  in  her  room  for  hours  at  a  time,  partly  to  hide  her 
shameless  indifference.  All  the  true  feeling  she  had  was 
a  consuming  restlessness  —  a  craving  for  change,  for  re- 
lease from  these  woebegone  relatives  who  took  life,  herself, 
themselves,  and  all  things  with  such  terrible  seriousness. 

She  wrote  a  letter  that  afternoon  and  posted  it  in  the 
village.  She  met  a  number  of  persons  on  her  walk  whom 
she  knew — women  and  girls  ;  they  avoided  seeing  her. 


BETWEEN  TWO  STOOLS  79 

The  letter  was  addressed  to Bradburn,  Esq.  (she 

was  writing  to  a  man  whose  first  name  she  did  not  know), 
at  his  business  address  in  Boston.  It  said :  — 

I  believe  you  are  a  wizard.  You  knew  my  mind  before 
I  knew  it  myself.  I  have  broken  my  engagement,  but  the 
punishment  is  dreadful.  There  's  no  end  to  it.  He  —  the 
man  —  was  going  to  buy  my  uncle's  place,  for  a  home  for 
me.  He  only  wanted  it  for  me.  When  I  said  I  could  n't 
go  on  as  we  were,  he  backed  out  of  his  bargain.  Uncle  is 
worried  about  some  legacies  that  are  coming  due.  He  has 
no  money  to  meet  them.  The  place  is  to  be  sold  at  auc- 
tion, I  believe.  Every  one  thinks  it 's  my  fault  —  all  this 
trouble  —  because  I  could  n't  marry  a  man  I  never  can 
love.  People  that  I  know  won't  speak  to  me.  I  am  in  dis- 
.grace.  And  yet  I  told  him  all  along  I  did  n't  care  for  him. 
He  said  he  'd  take  me  anyhow  —  take  the  chance  of  my 
learning  to  care.  3^  should  have  learned  only  to  hate  him. 
Do  you  know  of  anything  I  can  do  ?  —  of  any  way  uncle 
can  get  help  about  the  money?  I  don't  see  how  it 's  my 
fault,  but  if  it  is,  will  you  help  me  to  find  some  way  of 
repairing  all  the  trouble  I  seem  to  have  caused  ? 

You  said  we  were  fellow-travellers.  This  traveller  ap- 
pears to  be  stuck  fast,  unable  to  get  back  or  to  go  for- 
ward. 

In  doubt,  faithfully  yours, 

STELLA  MUTRIE. 

She  hesitated  over  the  declaration  above  her  name  ;  it 
was  the  merest  convention ;  he  knew  enough  of  the  world 
to  take  it  so.  Yet  she  knew  he  would  not  so  take  it,  in 
this  case. 


80  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

She  heard  nothing  directly  from  her  letter,  but  chance 
words  her  uncle  dropped  assured  her  that  he  was  looking 
for  another  visit  soon  from  Bradburn.  He  had,  in  fact, 
been  in  the  house  an  hour  or  more,  talking  to  his  host, 
before  she  knew  it. 

She  was  sitting  above  in  her  bedroom  —  the  girls' 
room,  where  Barbie  seldom  came  to  disturb  her  cousin's 
listless  musings.  Coming  down  she  picked  up  a  pet  kitten 
at  the  stair-head  and  descended  slowly,  cuddling  its  mur- 
muring warmth  beneath  her  chin.  She  did  not  see  Brad- 
burn  till  he  came  out  from  the  parlor  just  as  she  had 
reached  the  bottom  step.  It  was  useless  to  try  to  hide 
from  him  the  complete  joy  of  her  surprise. 

He  wore  a  new  suit  of  fine  dark  blue  cloth  and  a  satin 
waistcoat  striped  with  velvet.  The  bow  which  finished  his 
stock  was  tied  in  an  elegant  and  citified  way.  She  took 
a  starved  delight  in  his  gallant,  worldly  appearance.  And 
his  strange  eyes  were  the  same ;  —  the  feeling  they  gave 
her,  the  weak  trembling  that  dissolved  in  helpless,  excited 
laughter.  She  kept  hold  of  the  kitten  lest  he  should  see 
how  her  hands  were  shaking.  He  offered  his ;  she  guided 
one  paw  of  the  kitten  to  meet  it.  Smiling  he  took  her  then 
by  the  wrists  and  forced  her  hands  apart ;  the  kitten  fell 
between  them  with  a  thud  to  the  carpet  and  a  surprised 
"  mew  "  jounced  out  of  it. 

"  Now  I  shall  take  them  both !  "  He  held  her  hands  in 
his  for  some  seconds.  "  I  did  n't  come  to  play  with  kit- 
tens, you  know."  His  tones  smote  upon  her  nerves  like 
throbbing  brass. 

As  he  did  not  mention  her  letter,  she  would  not ;  but 
she  knew  it  had  brought  him.  It  was  their  secret  from 
the  family. 


BETWEEN  TWO   STOOLS  81 

"  Where  are  they  all  ?  "  she  led  the  way  into  the  sitting- 
room,  which  was  empty. 

"  I  have  not  seen  the  ladies  yet.  Your  uncle  and  I  have 
had  a  little  talk." 

"Where  is  uncle?'' 

"  Hitching  up  a  horse.  We  are  going  to  look  at  some 
lots  he  owns  out  towards  the  marshes.  I  am  here  for  a 
purpose,  —  you  know  that,  don't  you?  I  am  interested  in 
your  uncle's  getting  off  for  Oregon.  Part  of  my  prophecy 
has  come  true;  how  about  the  other  part?" 

"  Why  should  I  want  to  go  to  Oregon !  "  Stella  cried. 
She  sat  down  shivering  close  to  the  hearth,  and  rested  her 
elbows  on  her  knees,  a  favorite  attitude  when  absorbed. 
The  same  long  chain  of  cut  garnets  fell  into  her  lap  in 
two  straight  lines,  describing  the  lovely  curves  of  neck 
and  bosom.  He  drew  up  a  chair  and  sat  and  bit  his  lips 
and  watched  her;  certain  nervous  motions  betrayed  his 
state,  although  his  physical  control  in  general  was  perfect 
as  a  gambler's. 

At  length  the  question  came,  dragged  out  of  her :  "  Are 
you  going  to  be  there  —  to  stay  —  any  time  ?  " 

"In  Oregon?"  he  answered  softly.  "What  should  I 
do  in  that  galley,  my  dear  ?  I  shall  see  them  through  the 
mountains,  and  deliver  my  stuff  that  I  'm  taking  out  to 
Fort  Union.  Part  of  it  goes  around  the  Horn ;  that  must 
be  met  and  re-shipped  up  the  Columbia.  It  sounds  pretty 
mixed,  but  it  will  all  combine  and  straighten  out  if  my  plans 
go  through.  I  don't  do  business  for  the  fun  of  it,  though 
there  's  lots  of  fun.  Then,  when  I  've  toted  up  my  commis- 
sions,—  there  are  other,  bigger  plans."  His  eyes  blazed. 

Stella  looked  up  with  a  hunted  expression.  "  After  the 
journey  is  over,  then,  we  shall  see  no  more  of  you  ?  "  . 


82  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  hope —  "  he  began,  and  laughed  and  smothered  the 
laugh  abruptly.  "  No,  I  won't  say  that ;  it 's  a  first-rate 
company  —  none  better.  They  will  make  it  go.  Their  piety 
won't  block  them  out  of  a  good  slice  apiece  of  government 
land.  I  'm  to  help  them  there,  too,  —  do  a  little  lobbying 
in  Washington  on  the  Land-Grant  Bill.  Are  you  as  pious 
as  the  rest  of  them  ?  " 

Stella  smiled,  too,  but  tears  stood  in  her  eyes. 

"  My  dear,"  he  repeated,  looking  into  them  while  her 
hands  were  held  in  his,  "I  hope  I  shall  part  —  good 
friends  —  with  most  of  your  friends,  and  with  some  of 
their  money  in  my  pocket.  But  I  do  not  part  with  you, 
unless  you  desire  to  see  no  more  of  me.  When  we  have 
made  that  most  wonderful  journey  together  —  what  do 
you  think?"  There  was  no  answer  in  words.  They  both 
rose :  Stella's  head  swam  with  the  long,  fierce  kiss  he  had 
given  her.  The  chaise  stopped  at  the  horse-block  and  her 
uncle  came  tramping  up  the  porch  steps.  His  look,  his 
changed  voice  and  expression  told  her  "  The  ships  can 
sail ! " 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  COVENANT 

NOTICES  of  the  Hannington  auction  were  torn  down. 
It  was  understood  Alvin  had  found  a  new  purchaser  at 
the  last  moment,  or  some  one  with  money  to  risk  on  a 
second  mortgage. 

The  minister  was  asked  one  day  if  he  would  see  Mrs. 
Hannington  for  a  moment.  Ministers  know  what  a 
woman's  "moment"  means,  but  his  valued  parishioner 
was  not  kept  waiting. 

Shown  into  the  study,  she  breathed  deep,  having  walked 
too  fast  whilst  her  thoughts  were  centred  in  what  she  was 
about  to  say. 

"Now  I  have  come  to  trouble  you  again,"  she  warned 
him,  smiling  nervously  as  they  shook  hands.  "  We're  in  a 
great  fix  up  at  our  house.  Things  have  about  come  to  a 
standstill.  You've  heard  what  Stella  has  done?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  assented,  reserving  his  sympathy. 

"  Young  girls  have  been  known  to  change  their  minds 
before,  Mr.  Yardley.  I  don't  know  as  she  ought  exactly 
to  be  blamed  for  not  wanting  to  marry  without  the  proper 
feelings?" 

"Certainly  not,"  said  the  minister. 

"  She  was  late  finding  it  out,  to  be  sure ;  but  then  she 
acted  up  to  her  convictions.  She  's  lost  a  good  deal  by  it, 
in  one  way." 

"True;  she  has  not  been  mercenary." 

"I  did  think  at  first  'twas  his  money;  I  will  confess  I 


84  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

didn't  respect  her  much  for  taking  him.  We  didn't  do  any- 
thing about  it,  so  we  're  hardly  the  ones  to  blame  her  now." 

"  I  think  you  put  it  very  fairly,"  said  Mr.  Yardley. 
"Neither  do  I  blame  her,  for  being  honest." 

"  What  else  could  it  be !  She  as  good  as  said  to  me,  once, 
that  she'd  sooner  give  right  up  than  go  to  Oregon  to  settle. 
I  pitied  her  when  she  took  Horace  Hitchcock.  I  thought 
she  was  a  poor  little  coward  and  wanted  to  live  easy,  a 
rich  man's  wife.  What  she's  doing  now  looks  better, 
certainly. — Don't  you  think  so?" 

"  Are  you  positive  her  affections  are  not  engaged  else- 
where ?  —  with  some  one,  possibly,  who  might  be  going  in 
our  party?" 

"  How  could  that  be,  when  she  said  she  'd  court  death 
sooner  than  be  obliged  to  go?" 

"Is  it  quite  lately  she  said  that?" 

"I  don't  remember,  exactly  —  'twas  before  she  was 
engaged,  though,  for  it  gave  me  a  clue  to  her  taking  the 
man.  He  certainly  behaved  well.  I  suppose  he  was  keyed 
up,  at  first ;  now  he 's  growing  more  bitter.  She  ought  to 
get  away  from  here,  if  only  on  his  account." 

"I  don't  know  that  he  should  be  considered  to  that 
extent,"  said  Mr.  Yardley.  "  He  has  abundant  means  to 
go  himself." 

He  spoke  as  required,  but  his  mind  was  busy  on  a  closer 
question;  he  was  cogitating  about  Jimmy  —  whether  his 
joining  the  expedition  late  could  have  influenced  Stella 
Mutrie.  All  his  most  private,  searching  fears  and  hopes 
were  centred  in  her  not  going,  yet  he  knew  that  her  good 
aunt  was  come  to  ask  his  official  consent  to  it.  It  be- 
hooved him  to  examine  carefully  what  lay  back  of  his 
objections,  if  he  offered  any. 


THE  COVENANT  85 

"I  don't  see  exactly  what  we  do  blame  her  for,  but  she 's 
lost  all  her  friends.  Nobody  speaks  to  her  hardly  when  she 
goes  out.  —  Mr.  Yardley,  do  you  condemn  her  so  much?" 

"I  don't  know  her  disposition,"  said  Mr.  Yardley. 
"Ostracism  of  the  young  when  they  are  in  doubt  about 
themselves  is  certainly  cruel ;  I  should  condemn  that ;  but 
public  opinion  is  like  water:  it  slips  through  our  fingers, 
and  still  its  force  is  beyond  us.  It  is  one  of  the  mysteries 
of  character  —  how  one  person  can  do  a  thing  and  never 
be  questioned,  and  another,  doing  the  same  thing,  is  cast 
overboard." 

"Yes,  but  she's  so  young!  Her  life  has  never  been 
governed,  —  oh,  worse  than  that!  There's  room  enough 
for  mistrust-,  but  we  must  have  charity.  You  remember 
her  mother,  Mr.  Yardley?" 

"I  do;  she  was  one  of  my  dear  wife's  young  school 
friends." 

"I  think  a  great  deal  of  my  husband's  family,  but 
Mary  Hannington  I  always  heard  was  a  little  —  a  little 
sentimental?  Maybe  she  never  was  very  well.  But  Stella 
is  strong  —  " 

"It  is  a  case  for  prayer: — for  our  enlightenment,  and 
for  receptiveness  in  her.  It  is  hard  to  know  how  to  help 
those  who  can't  see  their  own  greatest  need." 

"Well,  she  needs  us:  I  don't  know  who  she's  going  to 
turn  to,  if  we  were  to  leave  her  behind." 

"Has  she  never  been  moved  at  all  towards  the  true  and 
only  source?" 

"You  have  talked  with  her,  Mr.  Yardley :  you  know  her 
state  better  than  I  can.  Of  course  we  sympathize  with 
your  objection  to  anything  but  a  close  membership;  but 
it's  going  to  exclude  her,  I'm  afraid." 


86  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  It  excludes  my  own  son ;  yet  he  is  going  with  us.  He 
says  it  is  an  open  road." 

"Not  for  her,  Mr.  Yardley.  And  I  don't  see  how  we 
can  leave  her  —  we  can't !  —  What  shall  we  do  ?  Had  we 
best  give  up  going  ourselves?  "  Mrs.  Hannington  was  being 
subtle  without  knowing  it.  "  I  don't  see  how  it  could  be 
managed,  now,  either ;  Alvin  's  made  all  his  plans ;  we  've 
burnt  our  ships,  so  to  say." 

"  Who  is  it,  may  I  ask,  stands  behind  your  husband  now, 
in  this  strait  you  once  spoke  to  me  of  ?  "  Mr.  Yardley 
hesitated  to  intrude,  yet  he  was  anxious,  for  reasons. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Bradburn." 

"  Your  husband  has  confided  in  him  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,  but  he  seemed  aware  there  was 
some  difficulty.  I  guess  it  was  common  knowledge  enough; 
I  didn't  gather  all  that  was  said  —  he  seemed  just  sent, 
somehow,  at  the  last  moment.  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  saw 
Alvin  so  relieved." 

"  Are  you  much  indebted  to  him  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  's  practically  lifting  the  whole  load  for  the 
present." 

"  At  high  interest,  most  probably  ?  " 

44 1  don't  think  so.  He 's  a  generous,  large  sort  of  man 
—  very  free  about  money;  a  great  friend  to  pioneering. 
I  don't  know  but  he  's  as  much  a  missionary  in  his  way  as 
some  others  are  in  a  better  way.  He  believes  it 's  a  wonder- 
ful country  out  there,  and  it 's  meant  for  us.  And  if  we 
don't  get  it,  others  will,  and  we  '11  realize  what  we  've  lost 
when  it 's  too  late." 

44  That  is  good  practical  preaching.  But,  in  my  dealings 
with  him,  he  hardly  struck  me  as  one  who  would  be  likely 
to  forget  his  price,  —  not  entirely  disinterested." 


THE   COVENANT  87 

"  I  don't  suppose  lie  is :  he 's  got  on  too  well  in  the 
world  to  have  been  that  always.  But  he  and  Alvin  seem  to 
have  taken  a  wonderful  fancy  to  each  other.  You  do  see 
it  sometimes  with  folks  so  different  you  can't  believe  it 
hardly.  He  seemed  to  enjoy  himself  with  us,"  the  simple 
woman  boasted ;  "  he  said  it  was  good  to  be  in  a  real  home." 

"  Then  he  is  not  married  ?  "  Thinking  always  of  the  two 
young  persons  dearest  to  him,  Mr.  Yardley  now  was  trou- 
bled for  Barbara  —  had  this  altruistic  stranger  been  setting 
his  hopes  on  a  sweeter  reward  than  money  ? 

"  I  should  judge  he  was  n't,  by  a  remark  he  made." 

"  You  don't  know  if  he  is  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  said,  right  out,  he  'd  no  women  folks  to  take 
along ;  he  could  put  his  family  under  his  hat." 

"  Yes  ?  "  Mr.  Yardley  assented  ;  "  that  is  a  common 
figure  of  speech,  I  believe.  But,  do  you  know,  Mrs.  Han- 
nington,  —  assuming  to  be  worldly  for  once,  —  I  think  I 
would  not  admit  a  stranger  to  the  company  of  young  girls 
very  intimately,  unless  I  had  traced  him  back  a  little. 
Are  you  committed  to  this  man  already  in  friendship  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  you  might  call  it  a  beginning  that  way.  In 
business  I  guess  we  are  in  pretty  deep  with  him."  She 
smiled,  uneasy  ;  —  "I  hope  it 's  all  right ?  " 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  imagine  otherwise,"  said  the  min- 
ister conscientiously.  But  his  forebodings  were  at  work  on 
these  new  elements  added  to  the  membership  of  his  picked 
company  which  had  promised  such  providential  combin- 
ations. 

Returning  to  Stella,  he  asked :  "  I  suppose  she  is  not 
very  well  provided  for  ?  " 

"  Oh,  nothing,  you  may  say.  —  He  made  money,  — 
her  father,  —  but  he  spent  right  along  as  though  there 


88  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

was  no  end  to  it.  And  there  are  claims  against  the  estate 
we  can't  dispute  without  going  to  law.  It 's  too  far  off  and 
too  slow,  and  too  unpleasant  every  way,  for  justice ;  her 
uncle  advises  her  to  let  it  all  go ;  the  lawyers  would  get  it 
anyway.  She  has  n't  much  to  count  on  besides  what  we  are 
able  to  do  for  her.  I  don't  see  as  she 's  fitted  anyway  to  do 
for  herself  ;  —  as  useless  a  pretty  person  as  ever  was.  But 
there !  Suppose  you  did  say  '  take  her'  ?  Let  her  be  what 
she  will,  we  can't  expect  to  show  up  any  better  than  the 
apostles,  can  we?  —  one  in  twelve  ?  " 

"  Well  put,"  said  the  minister,  smiling.  "  I  have  no  fear 
of  a  Judas  amongst  us.  I  warn  you,  though,  my  friend  :  a 
form  of  discipline  will  be  exacted  on  our  journey  that  you 
good  ladies  would  find  intolerable  in  your  own  community. 
One  reason  I  shall  not  join  the  caravan  that  starts  when 
we  do  is  the  silly  attempt  at  democracy  those  great  mov- 
ing villages  try  to  practise,  in  midocean,  you  may  call  it. 
I  am  the  captain  of  our  ship,  so  far  as  the  souls  on  board 
are  concerned.  Whoever  signs  with  me,  must  weigh  well 
that  condition  beforehand;  for  themselves  and  for  those 
they  bind  with  them.  We  are  going  where  there  is  no 
civil  law  and  no  means  of  administering  it  if  we  had  it. 
We  are  not  an  organized  church,  as  yet ;  simply  a  collec- 
tion of  human  beings  chosen  as  material  for  a  church,  who 
agree,  in  uniting  with  my  company,  to  recognize  me  as 
their  governing  head  for  the  time  we  are  on  the  road.  We 
shall  meet  new  and  trying  experiences  together,  grievances 
will  arise,  —  questions  of  private  conduct  outside  of  fam- 
ily discipline.  Such  questions,  where  they  affect  the  good 
of  the  whole,  shall  be  laid  before  me.  If  I  fear  my  own 
judgment,  a  committee  will  be  named  by  me  to  pass  on 
my  decisions ;  but  in  all  cases  where  sin  as  distinguished 


THE   COVENANT  89 

from  crime  is  to  be  punished,  I,  under  the  Lord's  guidance, 
shall  wield  the  rod.  This  is  the  covenant  each  individual 
among  you  who  is  of  age  will  be  expected  to  make  with  me." 

"  Mr.  Bradburn  calls  himself  our  '  temporal  head '  ?  " 
Mrs.  Hannington  sought  confirmation  of  this  remarkable 
statement. 

"  Yes,  he  amuses  himself  with  our  terms  4  temporal '  and 
4  spiritual,'  though  I  should  rather  call  him  the  '  temporal 
arm.'  Power,  in  material  things,  would  represent  his  co- 
efficiency,  and  knowledge  in  directions  where  we  must 
permit  him  to  lead.  But  I  am  your  pastor  in  the  Lord." 

"  Well,"  —  Mrs.  Hannington  rose,  feeling  stiff  with  the 
intensity  of  the  interview. 

"Well?"  the  minister  repeated,  taking  her  kind  big 
hand.  "  Will  you  remember  my  violent  language  before 
you  decide  to  commit  another  of  your  young  charges  to 
my  care,  on  this  long  and  difficult  journey?  Can  you 
agree  not  to  keep  from  the  old  friend,?for  family  reasons, 
anything  he  ought  to  know  as  the  pastor  of  the  whole 
flock  ?  Our  New  England  women  have  seldom  been  known 
to  falter  in  any  public  duty  required  of  them." 

Mrs.  Hannington  smiled  rather  wanly.  "  I  don't  antic- 
ipate we  shall  have  any  trouble,  if  you  are  thinking  of 
Stella ;  she  seems  to  me  quite  a  good  deal  chastened." 

Silence  went  home  heavy-hearted,  having  gained  her 
point.  She  had  forced  her  sincerity  in  urging,  as  duty 
bade,  a  thing  which  she  believed  would  blight  her  daugh- 
ter's hopes  of  happiness.  Grimly  she  said  to  herself,  "  If 
there 's  nothing  in  it,  she  can't  know  it  too  soon."  She 
never  guessed  the  minister's  own  private,  lonely  struggle. 
He  was  another  honest  soul  that  disdained  to  palter  with 
poor  motives. 


CHAPTER  X 

OPPORTUNITY 

THEY  saw  no  more  of  their  temporal  head  (or  arm) 
till  they  mustered  at  St.  Louis.  We  know  that  Mr.  Yard- 
ley  had  set  his  heart  on  young  men  with  years  of  work 
before  them,  and  young  wives  who  might  have  hopes  of 
numerous  and  healthy  offspring.  Yet,  such  is  the  fate  of 
Perfectionists,  the  first  persons  actually  accepted  by  him 
were  his  old  friends,  Alvin  and  Silence  Hannington,  both 
well  past  fifty ;  and  such  is  the  comfort  of  human  com- 
panionship when  our  ideals  are  knocked  to  pieces,  —  the 
minister  was  thankful  and  glad  to  get  them. 

The  other  men  were  young,  but — disappointment  again ! 
—  most  of  the  wives  turned  out  to  be  either  maidens  wait- 
ing at  home  in  the  promised  stage,  or  they  were  hindered 
by  various  reasons  from  making  the  journey  at  this  time. 
It  was  believed  that  no  wagons  nor  anything  on  wheels 
could  cross  the  Blue  Mountains.  This  was  stated  persist- 
ently and  the  report  was  spread  by  the  Hudson's  Bay 
factors,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  the  fur  companies 
wanted  to  keep  home-makers  out  of  all  that  tramontane 
territory. 

A  journey  known  to  last  six  or  seven  months,  and  end- 
ing in  the  saddle,  naturally  effected  a  rigid  selection  when 
it  came  to  women  and  children.  The  few  who  "  passed  " 
were  cheerful,  buxom  specimens  of  womankind,  and  the 
five  or  six  little  faces  that  peeped  from  under  wagon- 
tops  when  the  new  arrivals  drove  in  looked  like  the  clean 


OPPORTUNITY  91 


seed  of  a  hopeful  generation.  They  came  out  of  various 
congregations  east  of  Ohio,  endorsed  by  their  pastors  as 
sound  in  character  and  doctrine,  bearing  letters  of  mem- 
bership in  readiness  to  join  the  new  church  of  the  North- 
west :  the  church  they  would  build  as  their  forefathers 
built  the  first  log  meeting-houses,  with  one  eye  upon  God 
and  one  eye  upon  Satan  lurking  in  the  forest,  father  and 
instigator  of  all  the  evil  that  dwelt  therein.  Some  progress 
had  been  made  in  thought  and  practice  as  to  both  devil 
and  savages,  but  the  Congregational  idea  of  God  was  still 
an  awful  thing  to  contemplate,  and  it  was  a  question  of 
the  individual  minister,  or  even  of  his  moods,  how  far 
consistency  would  drive  the  nail  that  pinned  man  in  his 
natural  state  to  eternal  torment  hereafter. 

The  pilgrims  came  mostly  in  their  own  farm  convey- 
ances, by  country  roads  deep  in  mud,  and  beaten  up  with 
spring  rains.  They  brought  thrice  what  they  could  hope 
to  carry  onward :  fancied  necessaries ;  beloved  possessions 
bought  with  years  of  waiting ;  parlor  tables,  best  bonnets, 
china  tea-sets,  pots  of  preserves,  and  growing  plants. 
Bradburn's  first  task  was  the  hard  one  of  parting  the 
women  from  their  idols ;  husbands  were  consoled  by 
lighter  loads  for  the  cattle  and  the  prices  their  wives'  relics 
brought  in  the  booming  St.  Louis  market :  many  a  staid 
old  Puritan  sideboard  or  high-browed  secretary  stood 
alone  in  the  alien,  unthrifty  border  home  which  had  ac- 
quired it  for  a  song  —  for  a  sermon,  would  have  suited 
better  with  their  sacrificed  dignities. 

The  Hanningtons  travelled  by  stage-coach  to  Albany ; 
thence  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  where  their  freight 
slowly  overtook  them.  They  visited  meanwhile  at  u  Wil- 
liam's," and  there  they  left  Grandma  Trumbull  to  end  her 


92  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

days  in  peace.  But  her  soul  was  marching  on.  Very  little 
would  have  persuaded  the  undaunted  old  lady  to  forsake 
her  feather  bed  and  India-print  curtains  for  the  women's 
end  of  a  Santa  Fe  wagon  and  a  view  of  the  desert  stars. 
She  had  never  seen  the  prairies  nor  the  plains  nor  a  herd 
of  buffalo,  and  mourned  that  her  day  must  close  without 
one  more  journey  "  where  the  strange  roads  go  down  " 
the  roads  that  were  the  heritage  of  her  grandchildren. 

"You've  seen  a  good  deal  in  your  time,  mother,"  Alvin 
endeavored  to  comfort  her.  "  Some  folks  would  be  satis- 
fied to  rest." 

"  I  ain't  through  yet ;  I  can  rest  when  I  have  n't  got 
strength  to  do  anything  else.  I  'm  coming  out  to  visit  ye 
soon  as  I  find  a  wagon  can  get  across  the  mountains." 

"  Whitman  says  it  can,  mother,  and  we  're  a-going  to 
see." 

"  And  don't  you  let  anything  stop  you !  I  don't  want 
you  should  come  back ;  I  want  to  live  to  go  out  there 
too." 

"  You  shall,  you  shall ! "  — "  Blessings  on  you,  dears :  — 
The  Lord  is  your  Shepherd.  —  Do  be  careful  of  yourselves." 
The  women  choked  in  each  other's  arms,  but  they  shed 
few  tears. 

"  Barbie  my  pet,  don't  you  go  and  marry  any  outland- 
ish fellow  out  there.  Wait  and  plenty  good  ones  will  come. 
—  You  wait  and  get  a  good  one !  You  can  take  your  pick 
if  any  girl  can  !  " 

Grandma's  talk  was  a  trifle  worldly  for  past  seventy. 
She  would  speak  out  like  that  about  men  and  marrying. 
Sad  or  glad,  it  was  her  fashion,  of  a  time  when,  as  she  said, 
girls  were  not  brought  up  so  squeamish.  Stella  thought 
grandma  was  great  fun. 


OPPORTUNITY  93 


"  And  how  about  me  ?  "  she  asked,  half  serious,  aside. 

"  Oh,  you  '11  go  through  the  woods  and  pick  up  a 
broken  stick  at  last." 

"A  — what?" 

"  What  !  "  grandma  echoed.  "  You  heard  me.  — Come, 
give  me  a  kiss,  my  pretty;  what  I  won't  do  is  flatter 
you !  And  if  you  can  ever  find  a  man  who  won't  flatter  you, 
you  marry  him,  quick !  " 

St.  Louis  was  as  "  wide  open  "  as  a  town  can  be.  In- 
dependence was  the  "  jumping-off  place  " ;  but  at  St.  Louis 
the  wise  ones  girded  their  loins,  sewed  their  money  into 
their  belts,  and  committed  their  souls  to  God.  The  foolish 
were  plucked  like  geese  and  said  good-bye  to  theatres  and 
cock-fights  and  cards  and  girls  and  faced  the  grim  path 
of  the  nation's  destiny  with  unclean  memories  and  fever- 
ish breaths. 

In  spite  of  firmest  intentions  to  the  contrary,  Mr. 
Yardley's  company  did  join  the  spring  caravan,  —  twenty- 
two  wagons  and  one  hundred  and  five  persons,  eight  days 
out  from  Independence ;  and  they  were  in  trouble  already. 
A  baby  had  died,  and  its  mother,  prostrated  by  grief  and 
ill  besides,  declared  herself  unable  to  go  on.  The  caravan 
split ;  a  few  sympathizers  waited  at  the  sick-camp,  the 
main  column  making  a  few  miles  a  day  uncertainly ;  horse- 
men posting  back  and  forth  for  the  latest  news  of  the 
woman's  condition,  and  votes  nightly  taken  on  the  course 
to  pursue.  Some  called  it  cheap  humanity  to  spare  one 
family's  feelings  at  the  cost  of  delay  which  might  imperil 
the  lives  of  them  all  later  on.  Yet  wisdom  halted.  The 
pilgrims  were  new  to  this  kind  of  voting.  The  husband 
then  drew  out  from  the  company  and  said  he  would  take 
his  wife  back,  by  easy  stages,  to  her  friends  in  Illinois. 


94  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

There  was  nothing  left  of  their  home,  —  but  that  was  his 
affair :  he  cut  the  knot ;  the  caravan  moved  on. 

Mr.  Yardley's  party  met  this  lone  wagon  going  the  other 
way.  They  asked  questions  which  the  man  answered  im- 
passively ;  his  wife  from  her  pallet-bed  could  be  heard 
sobbing  while  he  told  their  story.  Farther  on  they  passed 
the  little  grave :  "  Mary  Lancaster,  died  May  2nd :  aged 
two  years  and  seven  mos."  •  —  "  A  pebble  cast "  —  a 
snowflake  on  the  desert's  dusty  face. 

"  Now,  I  wonder,"  said  Aunt  Silence  to  the  constant 
companion  of  her  wonderings,  "  what  Mr.  Yardley  would 
have  done.  I  don't  envy  him  his  almighty  'one-man- 
power!' About  the  worst  thing  that  can  happen  to  any 
one,  I  should  say,  is  sitting  up  alone  in  the  judgment  seat." 

"  Well,  voting,  you  see,  don't  work  either :  they  wasted 
a  whole  week  and  the  husband  decided  after  all." 

"  It  was  manlier :  —  I  guess  he  felt  full  better  about  it 
than  if  he  'd  been  herded  back  like  cattle." 

"  It  would  n't  have  been  done  that  way.  Mr.  Yardley 
would  have  offered  up  a  good  prayer,  too." 

"  Just  the  same,  I  would  n't  be  in  his  place  when  he 
gets  us  out  there  a  thousand  miles  from  anywhere.  He 
isn't  a  young  man  and  he  isn't  familiar  with  what  com- 
mon folks  call  life." 

"  We  are  going  on  with  the  others  for  a  spell,  I  hear 
say." 

"  Is  that  so  ?  Why,  I  thought  he  was  so  set  against  it !  " 

"  Mr.  Yardley  's  considerable  of  an  aristocrat,  remem- 
ber, though  he  don't  know  it.  When  he  heard  about  all 
these  folks  from  everywhere  consorting  together  so,  it 
struck  him  like  Bedlam  broke  loose.  I  know  he  told  me 
it  was  nothing  but  troubles,  little  and  big :  children  of 


OPPORTUNITY  95 


different  wagons  disagreeing  and  ketching  each  other's 
diseases,  dogs  fighting,  guns  going  off,  —  handled  care- 
less, and  killing  folks.  One  man  captain  one  month, 
another  the  next,  —  voted  for  by  their  friends.  Ridiculous 
rivalries  and  feuds  —  more  politics  than  Town  Meetin'. 
He  said  he  'd  just  as  soon  go  into  a  madhouse  as  into  such 
a  mess." 

"  That  don't  sound  like  him." 

"  Well,  it 's  my  way  of  putting  it." 

"  You  better  be  careful  how  you  quote  the  minister 
when  you  are  talking  yourself." 

"He'd  been  reading,  see!  Now,  come  to  look  at  'em 
close  by,  they  're  much  the  same  as  we  are.  I  see  fine  big 
fellows  there,  clean-built,  sensible-looking.  Don't  know 
as  we  can  brag  much  on  our  own  looks  about  now.  Any 
man 's  a  ruffian  with  a  week's  beard  on  his  face." 

More  than  this  was  true  :  the  shadow  of  death  and  part- 
ing crossing  their  path  so  soon  had  inclined  all  hearts  to 
gentleness.  The  strangers  coming  up  to  camp  were 
greeted  like  brothers.  Mr.  Yardley  felt  the  warmth  of 
such  a  welcome,  as  night  drew  down  in  the  new  silence 
of  that  great  solitude.  He,  too,  admired  the  faces  of  some 
of  the  men.  They  joined  camp-fires.  And  next  day,  being 
Sunday,  when  his  little  company  gathered  for  the  service 
of  prayer  and  singing  that  marked  off  each  seventh  day 
that  saw  them  farther  from  church  bells,  the  others  closed 
in  respectfully  and  all  said  the  Lord's  prayer  and  sang 
the  doxology  together.  Those  who  had  never  seen  each 
other  before,  —  men  from  the  East,  the  far  East,  men  from 
the  Western  Reserve,  sprung  from  the  same  stock  ;  lank 
Missourians,  fever-shaken,  but  the  sentiment  not  shaken 
out  of  them ;  homesick  women  who  hushed  their  babes 


96  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

and  wept  silently,  young  girls  casting  curious  looks  at 
the  Northern  women  —  their  newer  clothes  and  brighter 
skins.  It  all  meant  a  future  nation  by  the  waters  of  the 
West.  The  Lord  was  their  shepherd  too. 

Mr.  Yardley  yielded  easily  to  Bradburn's  argument  that 
it  would  be  wisdom  to  keep  on  with  the  train,  since  they 
could  hardly  out-travel  it  without  pressing  themselves,  or 
let  it  pass  them  without  unfriendliness  and  loss  of  precious 
time. 

"We  needn't  mix  up  in  their  election  frauds,"  Brad- 
burn  jeered  lightly,  "  and  their  discipline  would  be  a  loose 
fit  for  us !  We  can  keep  along  with  them  as  far  as  Green 
Kiver.  The  caravans  break  up  there  anyhow:  some  for 
California,  some  for  our  way." 

During  Sunday  service,  a  man  across  the  circle,  singing 
vigorously,  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  Bradburn — where  he  sat 
between  two  lovely  girls,  a  quiet  one  who  looked  proud,  and 
a  golden-haired  beauty  with  a  glance  that  was  not  so  still. 

He  came  over,  after  the  benediction,  and  caught  Brad- 
burn  a  playful  slap  between  the  shoulder  blades. 

"Hullo,  Cap!  pikin'  West  again?  You  look  hearty. 
How's  the  wife?  How's  her  mother?  going  on  just  the 
same?  sad  —  awful  nuisance.  Well,  I  suppose  you  con- 
sole yourself ;  same  gay  old  Benedick  !  " 

Bradburn  edged  the  speaker  off  a  bit ;  he  did  not  in- 
troduce him,  though  he  looked  amusing ;  and  interested. 
"  I  '11  hunt  you  up  later ;  I  'm  engaged  to  dinner  with  some 
friends,"  he  said. 

"  Nice-looking  *  friends ' !  You  always  light  on  your  feet 
somehow  in  the  social  game,"  said  the  new  man.  "  I  'm 
with  an  outfit  from  Pike  County,  —  good  old  Pike !  I 
shan't  take  up  your  time!  " 


OPPORTUNITY  97 

"  Where  do  you  hang  out  your  shirt? "  said  Bradburn  ; 
"  what 's  the  street  and  number  of  your  wagon  ?  " 

He  knew  this  conversation  had  been  more  or  less  over- 
heard, but  he  seemed  cool ;  explanations  did  not  particu- 
larly worry  him  now ;  the  game  was  going  his  way.  He 
had  played  for  secrecy  in  the  first  hand,  when  it  suited 
him  to  appear  to  be  free  in  the  conventional  acceptation  of 
the  word :  he  was  not  a  Christian  and  he  had  a  grudge 
against  Christian  society,  so  called.  These  were  simple 
persons ;  he  had  never  found  the  force  of  language  fail 
him  with  minds  like  theirs.  He  believed  that  in  an  hour's 
talk  he  could  win  them  over  to  think  of  him  as  he  thought 
of  himself,  an  injured  man. 


CHAPTER  XI 
BRADBURN'S  EDUCATION 

"  You  speak  to  him,  Alvin !  "  said  Mrs.  Hannington. 
"I  don't  want  he  should  think  we  are  accusing  him  —  " 

"Then  why  don't  you  let  it  pass?  It  don't  affect  us 
any." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know.  It  don't  look  well  to  quibble 
about  a  simple  question  like  that.  If  the  man  's  got  a  wife, 
why  could  n't  he  say  so  ?  " 

"  If  you  put  it  that  way,  no  wonder  you  feel  uncomfort- 
able to  bring  it  up.  You  '11  show  that  it  nags  you." 

"  That 's  why  I  want  you  to  bring  it  up,  —  accident- 
ally." 

"  Mother !  you  can  quibble  as  well 's  any  one  when  you 
see  reason  to." 

"  I  should  be  sorry  if  I  could  n't.  You  have  to  respect 
people's  feelings." 

"  Then  why  don't  you,  and  leave  the  man  alone  ?  " 

"  Because  we  're  seeing  so  much  of  him." 

"  Well,  if  he 's  a  married  man,  that  settles  it.  He  must 
be  hard  on  to  forty." 

"  Oh,  he's  old  enough,  but  he  don't  look  it  and  he  don't 
act  it.  Do  you  remember  that  night  in  St.  Louis,  when  he 
and  Jimmy  took  the  girls  to  the  Minstrels  —  just  as  if 
they  were  the  same  age !  Jimmy  and  Barbie  came  home 
together.  The  other  two  not  near  so  soon.  Don't  you  re- 
call it?" 

"  I  don't  know  as  I  do." 


BRADBURN'S   EDUCATION  99 

"  I  don't  know  what  place  he  took  her  to.  They  said 
the  show  was  no  account,  and  Jimmy  differed,  and  they 
fussed  about  it  and  Stella  sided  with  Bradburn ;  and  they 
two  went  off  —  she  said  they  went  to  see  some  open-air 
dancing :  Indians  and  trappers  and  Mexicans,  and  they 
had  refreshments  after,  in  a  grove.  I  couldn't  bear  to 
think  of  her  in  such  a  place.  It  was  all  a  tangled-up  story. 
It  made  me  cringe,  somehow.  —  Now,  if  he  is  married 
after  all  — " 

"  Well,  I  want  to  know !  A  married  man  of  forty !  Sup- 
pose he  is  n't  so  particular  as  you  are  ;  can't  he  give  a  lit- 
tle pleasure  to  a  chick  like  Stella  ?  The  place  is  strange 
to  us  and  we  think  all  of  it 's  queer.  Their  amusements 
are  innocent  enough  to  them.  It 's  the  way  you  look  at  it." 

"  It  seems  to  me  you  're  quibbling  now." 

"  Well,  I  don't  like  to  speak  this  way  about  a  man  I 
talk  to  every  day  as  a  friend.  If  you  can't  trust  him,  then 
say  so  and  quit  doing  it,  but  don't  let 's  criticize  behind 
his  back." 

"  Well,  I  shall  bring  it  up,  if  you  won't.  I  want  to  hear 
what  he  has  got  to  say." 

The  opportunity  came  that  evening,  by  the  camp-fire, 
—  Silence  preferring  to  ask  her  question  before  the  fam- 
ily ;  the  better,  perhaps,  to  hide  her  nervousness,  for  dis- 
trust lay  at  the  bottom  of  it.  Even  so,  she  took  a  long 
breath  to  steady  her  voice  before  beginning. 

"  Did  n't  we  understand  you  to  say,  Mr.  Bradburn,  that 
you  had  no  family  ?  " 

"  I  must  have  said  so  if  you  asked  me.  I  have  no  children, 
and  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  no  wife.  Did  you  ask  me  if  I 
had  a  wife?  There  is," continued  Bradburn,  "  a  lady  who 
has  the  right  to  bear  my  name,  but  she  is  not  my  wife  in 


100  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

any  sense  ever  contemplated  when  our  marriage  laws  were 
made.  It  is  a  peculiar  story —  " 

He  paused,  but  no  one  asked  for  the  story. 

"  My  wife  is  one  of  the  best  women  in  the  world  —  in 
her  world.  She  was  my  superior  in  every  way  when  I 
married  her.  I  was  a  boy  of  twenty.  I  told  her  I  was 
twenty-three  ;  I  added  those  three  years  out  of  pure  grati- 
tude —  she  was  thirty-one."  He  laughed  coarsely.  "  I 
thought  the  heavens  had  fallen  !  She  was  n't  pretty,  but 
she  was  the  great  lady  of  the  village  where  they  knew  me 
first  as  little  better  than  a  tramp.  I  walked  in  with  a  bun- 
dle on  my  back ;  but,  six  years  after,  they  were  giving  me 
a  banquet  in  the  town  hall  and  presenting  me  with  a 
gold  watch  and  chain  —  I  carry  it  still  —  care  to  see  the 
inscription  ?  " 

By  the  firelight,  leaning  his  dark,  high-colored  visage 
down  where  shadow  and  flame  brought  out  its  heavy  out- 
lines, he  opened  a  glittering  watch-case. 

"  Won't  you  read  it  out  for  us  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton  stiffly. 

"  It 's  of  no  consequence,  now,"  said  Bradburn  —  "a 
bauble :  twenty  years  ago  it  helped  to  make  a  fool  of  me, 
though. 

"  Generally  speaking,  a  man's  fool-trap  is  the  moment 
he  selects  as  the  proudest  of  his  life.  I  had  my  first  fore- 
man's job  in  the  Androscoggin  woollen  mills,  part  of  my 
wife's  property  from  her  father.  He  died  up  to  his  eye- 
lids in  money.  That  spring  something  happened ;  there 
was  a  big  freshet  and  the  storage-dam  went  out.  Then  it 
was  seen  who  was  the  man  for  a  crisis.  I  suppose  I  did  some 
pretty  quick  thinking,  if  it  was  thinking.  She  praised  my 
work  the  night  after  the  break.  It  was  a  bitter  flood  ;  the 


BRADBURN'S   EDUCATION  101 


valley  lined  with  houseless  women  and  <2bi}*fren,>  in  ;th« 
pouring  rain.  She  was  out  in  it,'  seMiag  men'  arouiict  'with 
hot  stuff  and  blankets.  —  A  tender-hearted,  romantic  per- 
son, —  saw  everything  in  a  story-book  light.  It  was  she 
started  the  hero  cry ;  others  took  it  up. 

"  Well,  the  superintendent  got  the  sack,  and  I  got  his 
place  that  was  too  big  for  me,  but  I  never  let  any  one  find 
it  out.  That 's  my  rule  :  take  a  thing  you  want  when  you 
can  get  it,  work  like  sin  and  pay  for  it  when  you  are  able. 
The  gods  never  stand  waiting,  and  they  don't  offer  the 
same  thing  twice. 

"  The  day  I  got  my  step,  she  and  her  mother  asked  me 
to  dinner.  I  say  she,  because  her  mother  was  a  lay  figure. 
It  was  a  great  condescension  ;  but  they  could  ask  whoever 
they  liked,  for  any  reason  that  struck  their  fancy.  She 
asked  Frederick  Douglass  to  dinner  once !  — it  was  our  only 
quarrel.  I  would  n't  eat  with  a  nigger  if  he  was  the  pro- 
phet Daniel.  She  would  n't  have  asked  me  if  I  'd  been  one 
of  the  village  boys  ;  then  she  'd  have  had  my  family  to  swal- 
low ;  I  was  a  rara  avis. 

"  We  made  a  long  evening  of  it  for  the  first.  Old  lady 
amiable  but  sleepy  ;  went  off  early  and  left  us.  I  got  up 
and  offered  to  go,  but  I  saw  I  need  n't. 

"  The  room  where  we  sat  was  chock-a-block  with  books ; 
smelt  of  'em  fairly.  I  had  never  seen  so  many  together  in 
my  life  in  a  private  house.  I  was  hungry  then  for  books.  It 
was  my  time  to  read.  She  was,  I  told  you,  thirty — thirty- 
one  ;  she  was  hungry  for  life,  shut  in.  So  we  talked  life  — 
an  old  maid  and  a  boy !  The  advances,  you  might  say,  were 
hers  —  had  to  be.  She  was  a  sort  of  queen  to  me,  then." 

"  Did  she  ask  you  to  marry  her  ?  "  Barbie  astonished  her 
mother  by  enquiring. 


103  4.  PICKED  COMPANY 

,  tVNo,  Miss, .Barbie ;  act  woman  I  wanted  could  get  the 
' chance  to  do  that  4:  .1  did  want  her  —  then.  There  were 
some  people  in  that  village  I  thought  I  'd  like  to  surprise, 
and  I  did.  But  I  had  to  pay  for  my  fun ;  that 's  where  the 
little  gods  are  laughing  now.  We  were  married.  For  five 
years  she  was  the  best  friend  to  me  a  man  ever  had.  Say 
what  you  like,  a  well-bred  old  maid  is  a  great  person.  She 
taught  me  to  use  my  mind  ;  she  taught  me  how  to  dress, 
how  to  sit,  and  stand,  and  brush  my  hair.  She  was  a 
mother  to  me,  but  bright  and  funny  about  it,  so  it  did  n't 
sting. 

"  But  the  village  was  too  small  for  me ;  my  work  was 
routine.  I  had  to  go ;  and  she  was  tied.  Her  mother  had 
had  a  long  sickness  that  left  her  weak  in  the  upper  story. 
.There  are  plenty  of  places  for  taking  care  of  gentle  lun- 
ies  like  her ;  they  could  have  paid  for  one  all  to  herself, 
—  they  could  have  hired  nurses  and  kept  her  home.  No ; 
my  wife  would  n't  listen  to  it.  '  There  is  only  a  very  little 
of  mother  left,'  she  said, '  but  that  little  wants  me :  I  shall 
be  near  her  as  long  as  she  lives.'  The  old  lady  is  living 
still ;  my  wife  is  half  dead.  So  there  we  are ! 

" '  A  man  shall  leave  father  and  mother  and  shall  cleave 
unto  his  wife  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh.'  Does  that 
mean  woman  also  ?  My  wife  don't  believe  in  divorce.  It 
is  n't  a  Christian  institution,  she  says,  nor  a  necessity  of 
Christian  society.  Separation,  on  sufficient  grounds,  she 
tolerates  ;  but  that  does  n't  admit  of  second  marriage.  She 
forgets  that  men  and  women  mated  before  marriages  were 
made,  on  earth  or  in  heaven  either :  there  was  no  priest 
for  Adam  and  Eve." 

Mrs.  Hannington  rose  abruptly  and  said  it  must  be  near 
bedtime.  The  speaker  was  forgetting  he  had  two  young 


BRADBURN'S  EDUCATION  103 

girls  among  his  listeners ;  —  her  own  fault,  she  owned ;  she 
need  not  have  broached  the  subject  then. 

"  Stella  did  not  rise  at  once.  Her  aunt  looked  back : 
"Aren't  you  coming,  Stella?  Take  care  of  that  stump 
there !  I  nearly  fell  over  it." 

Bradburn  sprang  to  offer  Mrs.  Hannington  his  hand, 
which  she  ignored. 

Alvin,  more  clumsily,  followed.  "Ain't  you  coming, 
Stella?" 

"  It 's  early  yet,"  she  said.  "  I  'm  not  sleepy." 

"  I  guess  you  'd  better  come,  had  n't  you  ?  "  He  turned 
on  his  way,  meaning  to  say  a  few  words  to  Bradburn  to 
excuse  his  wife's  abruptness.  Stella  strolled  vaguely  to- 
wards the  wagon. 

"  Good  night,"  said  Bradburn  in  a  low  voice.  She  did 
not  answer. 

The  Hanniugtons  agreed  that  Bradburn's  story  had 
been  frank  —  if  anything  indecently  frank,  though  they 
used  a  moderate  word.  His  impartiality,  which  cost  him 
nothing,  they  found  unexpected.  The  poor  lady,  his  wife, 
might  have  heard  him  herself,  said  Alvin  — 

"  I  guess  not !  "  said  Aunt  Silence.  "  What  do  you  think 
of  calling  your  wife  an  old  maid,  —  hungry  for  life !  And 
the  way  he  put  it  about  her  mother !  I  don't  like  him ; 
he  's  coarse,  and  I  always  thought  so." 

Bradburn's  statement  of  his  wife's  views  on  divorce, 
while  perfectly  true,  omitted  the  fact  that  he  had  never 
asked  for  one.  He  did  not  bring  the  story  down  to  date 
and  tell  them  that  his  wife  was  still  the  best  friend  he  had ; 
that  he  as  ever  was  the  one  romance  of  her  life,  and  knew 
it  and  traded  on  it.  That  once  a  year  he  dawned  on  the 
long  night  of  her  vigil,  and  flushed  its  pale  horizon 


104  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

(a  waiting  for  death)  with  the  force  and  color  of  his  pro- 
gressions from  one  side  of  the  continent  to  the  other.  No 
one  could  enter  so  vitally  into  his  schemes,  for  she  backed 
them  with  her  money ;  none  could  flatter  his  ego  as  she 
could,  for  she  had  a  command  of  words,  and  she  was  sin- 
cere when  she  listened  spellbound  to  his  dramatic  present- 
ations of  himself,  and  believed  him  born  to  be  one  of  the 
country's  great  men.  He  never  talked  better  than  to  her, 
in  the  glow  of  that  reflection  of  himself  he  saw  in  her 
earnest  eyes ;  he  had  that  power  over  her  imagination,  and 
desired  to  keep  it  till  he  became  her  heir  in  fact,  as  he 
knew  he  was  on  paper.  Meantime,  his  bondage  was  light. 
It  was  only  since  he  had  met  Stella  Mutrie,  hedged  in 
by  relatives,  and  with  a  certain  calculating  side  of  her  own 
beneath  her  tropical  softness,  that  he  felt  his  limitations. 
Now  he  proposed  to  free  himself  for  his  true  marriage,  the 
flowering  of  his  belated  youth. 

But  no  irrevocable  step  could  be  taken  until  he  was  on  a 
stronger  financial  footing  of  his  own.  His  dreams  were 
those  of  a  Faust  after  his  soul  has  surrendered  to  sense : 
nature  in  her  shameless  connivance  was  with  him,  and  the 
old  gods  laughed. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CAPTAIN    OF   THE   KOAD 

ALL  the  mules  of  the  train  sang  together  every  morn- 
ing before  sunrise :  no  trumpeter  was  needed  after  that. 
But  amateur  trumpet-calls  were  cheap ;  they  brightened 
the  day's  monotony.  There  was  reveille  and  the  call  for 
the  bachelor's  and  teamster's  mess  to  meals,  the  order 
for  the  wagons  to  pull  out  in  line  of  march,  and  sound  off, 
when  they  unhitched  at  night.  Young  men  on  horseback 
rode  ahead,  following  Bradburn's  lead,  to  examine  the 
country  and  choose  the  next  camping-spot.  Bradburn's 
horse  would  be  first  across  every  doubtful  ford.  He  was 
seen  scouring  up  mountain-sides,  picking  the  best  trail ; 
he  knew  all  the  Indian  signs  they  met,  the  name  of  each 
tribe  represented  in  their  Indian  encounters  —  always 
friendly.  There  was  everything,  he  said,  in  manner  when 
you  met  these  fellows :  you  must  never  let  them  suspect 
you  were  anxious,  still  less  afraid ;  and  you  must  n't  give 
an  inch  or  they  would  take  an  ell,  and  mark  it  down  for 
death  if  you  denied  them.  Light  hand  and  hard  eye  did 
it,  the  same  as  with  horses.  He  was  admired  by  most  of 
the  young  men  who  formed  the  scouting  party.  Others 
thought  he  bragged  and  condescended.  In  all  things  he 
was  too  theatrical  for  the  New  England  taste. 

Bradburn's  outfit  included  two  good  horses  gaited  for 
the  saddle.  He  had  listened  to  Stella's  homesick  raptures 
over  her  rides  in  Jamaica.  Rising  at  four,  after  coffee  in 
bed,  and  climbing  the  mountain  to  eat  an  elaborate  hot 


106  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

breakfast  cooked  by  black  servants  who  had  been  up  half 
the  night ;  seated  above  the  fog  and  watching  the  world 
emerge  —  color  first,  then  mountain  forms  faintly  showing 
till,  in  a  burst,  the  sun  smote  the  veil  and  the  great  sea 
wall  broke  through,  rising  dark  and  flashing  into  surf  to- 
wards the  shore.  Homeward  lazily,  then,  through  the  jess- 
amine-scented trails,  to  a  bath  and  cool  drinks  and  a 
siesta  in  the  darkened  house.  Her  words  could  move  him 
as  his  moved  her :  he  would  retort  huskily,  "  Wait,  child ! 
I  will  build  you  a  cedar  palace  on  the  side  of  a  mountain 
bigger  than  your  whole  tuppenny  island.  You  shall  look 
across  the  fog  lakes  to  a  chain  of  peaks,  —  monarchs  all, 
—  with  the  colors  of  Jerusalem's  gates  on  their  foreheads. 
We  '11  keep  the  valley  roads  hot  with  men  running  with 
stuff  for  you  to  eat ;  and  when  we  get  tired  of  one  place 
we  '11  ride  away  to  another.  Horses  —  ho ;  they  are  thick 
as  flies  in  that  country !  The  hills  are  black  with  'em.  I  '11 
have  you  a  saddle  made  of  tooled  leather  fit  for  a-  queen's 
prayer-book,  and  mounted  with  gold." 

Not  any  of  this  was  too  crude  for  Stella's  fancy,  but 
the  actual  date  of  this  rhapsody  was  before  Bradburn  told 
the  story  of  his  marriage.  He  had  fewer  opportunities 
with  her  alone  after  they  became  an  organized  army  on 
the  march.  There  had  been  unexpected  seductive  occa- 
sions in  St.  Louis  during  the  ten  days  spent  in  that  un- 
holy town ;  hours  it  shook  the  blood  in  his  veins  to  remem- 
ber. Stella's  thoughts  in  these  days  were  her  own. 

"  You  know  how  to  ride  !  "  he  addressed  her  before  the 
family.  "  She 's  a  rider,"  he  nodded  to  Mrs.  Hamiington 
familiarly,  as  an  ally.  "  Miss  Barbie,  too,  ought  to  learn. 
We  leave  the  wagons  at  Fort  Hall,  or  Boise  at  the  fur- 
thest. Wagons  can 't  go  over  the  Blue  Mountains." 


CAPTAIN   OF   THE   ROAD  107 

"Not  any  wagons?"  Mrs.  Hannington  exclaimed. 

"Carts  —  a  few.  There  will  be  a  great  cutting-down 
for  that  last  climb.  Some  of  the  wagons  we  shall  leave  at 
Fort  Laramie  —  some  we  '11  break  up  and  make  into  those 
carts,  for  ladies  like  yourself,  ma'am." 

"Old  ladies." 

"  And  mothers  with  babies,  and  children  too  small  to 
ride.  The  rest  of  us  will  have  to  toughen  down  to  the 
cross-saddle  business  over  those  high  trails.  So  I  say,  the 
young  ladies  had  better  work  up  their  riding  while  the 
roads  are  safe.  I  have  a  spare  horse  that 's  a  dandy,  —  a 
pacer.  Will  you  let  me  lend  it  to  you,  Hannington,  for 
your  girls  to  try  ?  " 

Stella  had  jumped  at  the  offer,  but  would  not  confess  it 
by  her  manner.  Barbie  was  civil,  while  resolved  to  ride 
no  horse  of  Bradburn's.  As  Stella,  after  being  properly 
persuaded,  began  to  ride  and  begged  her  cousin  constantly 
to  take  her  turn,  Barbie  found  herself  cornered.  She  had 
a  fair  amount  of  character  for  a  girl  of  twenty,  but  she 
was  not  yet  so  posed  that  she  could  nerve  herself  against 
the  appearance  of  old-maidishness  it  gave  her  to  hold  out, 
or  the  seeming  reflection  on  Stella.  Her  feeling  about 
Bradburn  she  did  not  attempt  to  explain,  but  favors  from 
him  she  felt  it  somehow  impossible  to  accept.  To  her 
mother  she  merely  said  she  did  not  ride  well  enough  to 
show  off  before  a  crowd  of  men.  This  sounded  disagree- 
able, and  she  hastened  to  amend  the  speech,  though  Stella 
was  not  present  to  be  hurt  by  it. 

"  You  know  what  I  mean  !  Stella  can  do  it  and  every- 
body thinks  it  charming.  It  would  n't  suit  me ;  now,  do 
you  think  it  would,  mother?" 

Everybody  did  not  think  it  charming.  The  older  men 


108  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

said  it  was  wearing  horses  out  for  nothing.  Most  of  the 
young  wives  with  husbands  on  scout  duty  thought  it  bold 
for  one  girl  to  ride  with  so  many  men  alone.  Mrs.  Han- 
nington  was  weak-minded  :  she  hated  to  have  Barbie  left 
out  of  everything  youthful  and  gay. 

"Why,  Jimmy  is  one  of  them  always,"  she  said.  "I 
can 't  see  how  it 's  different  from  skating  alone  with  him, 
with  all  the  village  boys  looking  on." 

"  They  were  n't  looking  on  !  "  Barbie  retorted,  stung  by 
the  difference.  "  They  did  n't  care  a  snap  about  us,  and 
they  all  knew  who  we  were." 

"  They  know  who  you  are  now.  Whatever  you  do  you  '11 
do  like  yourself,  not  like  Stella.  It 's  kinder  to  her,  don't 
you  think?"  Aunt  Silence  pleaded. 

Barbie  was  still  a  moment,  then  she  burst  into  frantic 
sobbing. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  nothing !  " 

"  I  know !  I  tease  you  all  the  time  —  I  can't  seem  to 
help  it  —  we  won't  say  another  word."  Mrs.  Hannington 
realized  once  more  how  constantly  she  was  tempted  to  work 
Barbie  in  —  Barbie  whom  she  always  could  be  sure  of  — 
into  the  exhausting  problem  of  Stella.  Neither  she  nor  Mr. 
Hannington  liked  to  see  their  niece,  beautiful  as  she 
looked,  flying  ahead  of  a  column  of  young  men,  sometimes 
allowing  herself  to  be  caught,  oftener  leading  the  chase 
for  miles  ahead  of  the  caravan  ;  she  was  a  senseless  rider. 
Jimmy  would  frown  as  he  rode  at  her  side  or  frankly  scold 
her,  but  he  was  the  one  she  generally  rode  with  now.  It  was 
so  contrived  by  her,  and  it  flattered  him  when  he  began  to 
see  her  intention.  He  took  credit  to  himself  for  lecturing 
her  in  these  opportunities  for  something  different  that  she 


CAPTAIN   OF  THE   ROAD  109 

gave  him.  More  than  ever,  for  some  reason,  he  was  afraid 
to  lose  control  of  himself.  She  listened  to  him  with  a 
pretty  pensiveness  and  promised  to  be  good. 

When  Bradburn  snatched  a  moment  at  her  side,  he 
descended  at  once  with  the  full  spring  of  his  tense  male 
speech  upon  her  fainting  imagination.  There  is  no  disguis- 
ing the  type  girls  like  Stella  represent;  the  insoluble  pro- 
blem of  sex  —  the  last  form  of  womanhood  that  yields  to 
the  power  of  soul  through  motherhood  or  maiden  self-re- 
strairit.  The  Puritan  half  of  her  began  while  her  own 
mother,  the  poor  lady,  relaxed  by  illness,  under  the  spell 
of  the  tropical  life  around  her  clung  feverishly  to  her  pass- 
ing moments  of  happiness  in  the  arms  of  full-blown  ma- 
terialism. The  paternal  half  was  Captain  Mutrie,  a  hand- 
some sea  animal  without  a  thought  of  fear  or  a  twinge  of 
conscience  in  his  makeup. 

"  Do  you  forget  how  short  those  first  talks  were  ? " 
Bradburn  said,  crowding  his  horse  up  close  to  hers.  "  I 
had  five  minutes  each  time  to  win  you  in,  my  girl,  my  love  ! 
How  if  I  had  said  to  you  at  first, '  I  want  you  forever,  but 
I  'm  a  married  man '  ?  We  should  have  lost  each  other.  I 
can  and  I  shall  do  right  by  you,  give  me  only  what  I  need 
in  my  two  fists  to  keep  you  on, my  blessed  little  queen! " 

They  were  skirting  those  low  sand  hills  called  the 
Coasts  of  the  Platte.  The  road  dipped  into  a  wide,  scooped 
hollow  and  the  world  disappeared.  They  stopped  their 
horses.  A  wind  from  immeasurable  distances  flickered  the 
faded  ribbon  on  Stella's  hat ;  a  prairie-dog  popped  its  head 
out  of  its  hole  to  reconnoitre  and  popped  it  in  again,  scat- 
tering a  few  grains  of  sand  that  shocked  the  stillness  like 
a  blast  of  gunpowder.  Stella  started.  Bradburn's  arm  was 
around  her,  but  no  one  was  in  sight. 


110  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  can't  bear  this  much  longer,"  she  said.  "  There  will 
be  no  way  of  hiding  it,  for  me." 

"  You  will  not  have  to  hide  anything,  precious  :  there  is 
plenty  of  time.  Do  you  keep  the  bit  of  gold  I  gave  you  ? 
Well,  keep  it  dark.  That  is  our  world  secret :  it  will  change 
the  world  for  us,  and  for  thousands  of  lovers  after  we  are 
dead  and  done  with.  Have  you  got  it  ?  Suppose  you  give 
it  back  to  me.  It  might  be  safer." 

"  You  are  very  careful,  about  the  gold !  " 

"  Why  not  ?  It  means  everything  ;  it  makes  us  gods ! 
Have  you  got  it  with  you  now  ?  " 

She  handed  him  out  of  her  bosom,  scornfully,  a  lump  of 
pale  greenish  yellow  stuff  wrapped  in  soft  paper.  He  un- 
covered and  looked  at  it  a  moment. 

"  4The  power  and  the  glory,'  "  he  murmured.  "  Gold  is 
the  greatest  power  on  earth,  and  the  glory  is  to  him  who 
finds  it  first  —  and  most !  —  And  his  will  be  the  worship, 
world  without  end." 

"  Oh,  you  are  too  awful !  " 

"  Why  ?  —  they  are  only  words.  Does  the  alleged  Cre- 
ator care  what  we  say  in  our  prayer-books  ?  Think  of  the 
queer  things  he  has  listened  to  from  all  the  peoples  in  lan- 
guages before  prayer-books  began  !  Don't  you  see  how  nar- 
row it  is,  to  think  he  hears  only  us,  and  that  our  stock 
words  and  phrases  the  churches  fight  about  mean  any  more 
to  him  than  the  beating  of  a  tom-tom  or  the  name  of  Allah, 
when  the  Turk  falls  on  his  face  at  sunrise  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  of  you,"  she  repeated,  "  when  you  talk  like 
that.  I  am  not  a  heathen  !  " 

"  You  are  superstitious,  darling,  and  so  am  I.  I  have  a 
superstition  about  this  journey  — 

Glancing:  back  he  saw  that  the  others  were  too  near. 


CAPTAIN  OF  THE   ROAD  111 

He  took  his  arm  away  and  they  trotted  forward  lightly 
over  the  noiseless  sand. 

"  I  shall  meet  that  man,  you  know,  at  Laramie.  We  '11 
have  six  minutes'  talk  across  the  river.  Then  he  will  poke 
along  south  and  wait  for  me  at  the  place  —  where  this 
came  from."  Bradburn  patted  his  breast-pocket.  "  He  got 
the  secret  from  an  old  drunken  Indian  who  is  dead,  who 
knew  it  back  in  the  padres'  time.  But  the  padres  were 
too  lazy  to  dig  gold  and  the  Indians  were  lazier  still.  They 
did  n't  want  it  known  there  was  much  of  it  there.  It  meant 
too  many  back-loads  of  dirt  for  them." 

"  How  do  you  know  you  can  trust  that  man  ?  " 

"  Who?  My  little  Qui  Court  ?  — « L'eau  Qui  Court '  is 
his  name  in  the  mountains  —  he  won't  run  away  from  me  ! 
I  have  a  bit  in  the  poor  devil's  mouth  and  the  reins  are  in 
my  hand.  The  bit  is  fear,  and  the  reins  :  I  understand  him 
—  that 's  the  right  rein  ;  and  he  loves  me  in  his  fashion  — 
that's  the  left.  Qui  Court  is  one  of  the  men  I  own — 
though  he 's  hardly  a  man.  He  '11  sit  on  our  secret  like  a 
horned  toad  in  the  sand.  No  one  watches  Qui  Court.  And 
when  I  come  with  my  fist  full  of  coin  we  shall  go  to  work 
in  earnest,  and  the  world  will  buy  land  of  us  at  a  thousand 
the  square  foot." 

"  Can  a  thing  like  that  be  kept  to  himself  by  any  one 
man,  very  long  ?  " 

"  Not  very  long.  But  it  won't  take  more  than  a  few 
days'  start  of  the  rest  of  the  world  to  get  boiling  rich  at 
that  business." 

"What  was  your  superstition — about  this  journey?" 

"  It  was  only  a  dream.  Three  times  I  dreamt  I  could  n't 
get  through  the  Devil's  Gate  on  horseback.  —  Ever  hear 
of  that  place? — I  sat  alone  there  on'my  horse  and  could  n't 


112  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

get  back  nor  forward.  The  oddity  is,  we  don't  go  through 
that  canyon  at  all.  You  can  turn  out  a  mile  from  the  trail 
to  see  it.  It 's  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  road :  it 's  four 
hundred  feet  deep ;  the  sides  go  straight  down  ;  they  are 
about  three  hundred  feet  apart  at  the  top.  The  Sweet 
Water  strolls  along  at  the  bottom ;  but  if  you  were  down 
there  in  it,  you  'd  be  gasping  for  your  life." 

"  Three  times  the  same  night  did  you  dream  it  ?  " 

"  No ;  three  different  nights.  It  was  only  a  dream,  but 
once  was  enough.  Cheer  up,  lady-love !  They  are  here 
now." 

He  turned  in  his  saddle  and  called  out  laughing,  "  What 
are  those  things  you  are  sitting  on  made  of  ?  Pasteboard 
—  or  are  they  sheep  ?  You  must  have  charged  along  at 
the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour ! " 

He  was  equal  to  anything,  she  thought.  He  could  hide 
anything  —  he  could  be  anything  to  anybody  as  it  suited 
his  purpose. 

" '  Qui  Court,'  "  she  reflected,  "  4  is  one  of  the  men  I 
own,'  —  how  about  women !  " 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  WAGONS   AT  NIGHT 

BRADBURN  had  engaged  a  young  Missourian  to  do  camp 
chores,  drive  his  team,  and  take  care  of  his  animals.  The 
lad  was  poor,  anxious  to  get  to  Oregon  —  not  anxious  to 
work  but  took  the  job,  unwillingly,  for  the  chance  it  gave. 
Driving  another  man's  mules  was  work  for  a  nigger. 

With  envy  he  watched  the  scouts  ride  off,  giving  him  their 
dust  while  he  stooped  to  buckle  belly-bands  or  hook  greasy 
traces.  It  particularly  discouraged  him  to  see  his  employer, 
a  man  he  called  middle-aged,  cantering  on  ahead,  like  one 
of  the  beaus,  with  the  young  fellows  who  squired  that 
handsome  girl :  daily  the  sight  teased  him  more  and  more. 

One  morning,  as  the  squad  rode  by,  his  temper  gave 
way  and  he  let  his  leaders  "  have  it."  The  guide-rein 
jerked,  he  lost  his  balance,  and  fell  in  front  of  the  wheels 
which  passed  over  his  leg  and  broke  it. 

It  was  a  case  for  experienced  nursing  in  proportion  to 
the  dearth  of  surgical  skill.  Mrs.  Hannington  said  "  that 
boy  should  not  limp  for  the  rest  of  his  life  if  she  could 
help  it! "  She  had  him  brought  into  their  wagon. 

He  was  no  boy  in  size :  six  feet  was  the  length  of  him 
stretched  on  a  wagon-bed.  At  night  with  his  restlessness 
he  took  up  the  room  of  two ;  Alvin's  help  was  needed  in 
moving  the  patient.  The  girls  were  minus  a  lodging. 

Bradburn  at  once  vacated  his  own  wagon  for  the  young 
ladies'  exclusive  use ;  their  mother  was  nursing  his  sick. 
He  cheerfully  made  his  bed  on  the  ground  near  enough  to 
be  in  sound  of  a  call,  and  all  seemed  well. 


114  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

But  a  woman  is  never  satisfied.  Mrs.  Hannington  wanted 
to  know  if  it  would  be  "  too  much  to  ask  "  that  Captain 
Bradburn's  wagon  should  change  places  with  one  of  those 
next  to  theirs.  It  would  be  pleasanter,  she  thought,  for 
the  girls.  Her  husband  said  dryly  no  doubt  it  would ;  no 
doubt  they  'd  like  to  have  the  leader's  wagon  hauled  hither 
and  yon,  whichever  way  they  took  a  notion.  They  had 
driven  him  out  upon  the  ground  and  made  him  their 
private  watchman ;  wasn't  that  about  enough  to  ask  of 
the  man  ? 

The  caravan  had  passed  the  South  Fork's  junction  with 
the  Platte ;  Chimney  Rock  was  its  next  landmark,  five 
hundred  and  seventy-one  miles,  —  but  they  were  still  in 
the  Pawnee  Country.  That  sinister  highway,  the  Pawnee 
Trail,  lay  behind  them,  unswerving  as  a  road  of  ants,  wide 
as  a  county  turnpike,  beaten  smooth  by  families  of  feet 
for  generations,  on  errands  that  shall  be  told  when  we 
know  the  stories  of  the  buffalo  wallows  and  the  wild-horse 
stampedes  and  the  secret  battles  of  the  big-horn  and  the 
elk. 

The  Indians  had  left  their  winter  villages  on  the  South 
Fork  and  were  roaming  in  large  parties  looking  for  buf- 
falo and  scalps.  There  was  no  special  war  on,  but  the 
Pawnees  had  their  blood  enemies  besides  those  private 
feuds  always  seeking  a  fresh  victim. 

Many  Indians  met  them  every  day,  awaiting  their  com- 
ing curiously,  or  camped  on  their  trail,  begging,  prying, 
pilfering,  watching  a  chance  to  run  off  cattle  in  the  night. 
The  emigrants  were  in  force  too  great  to  be  in  fear  of 
attack.  Two  wagons  might  have  tempted  the  feathered 
Gentlemen  of  the  Road  with  their  faces  blacked  for  mur- 
der, but  twenty  were  merely  watched  in  hostile  wonder, 


THE  WAGONS  AT  NIGHT  115 

and  followed  and  advertised  by  secret  messengers  for 
leagues  ahead. 

A  triple  guard  was  set  each  night,  the  men  serving  in 
turn,  and  they  were  generally  faithful,  but  occasionally  — 
such  is  the  contempt  familiarity  breeds  for  dangers  we 
have  always  with  us  —  a  watchman  would  choose  a  dark 
spot  where  the  camp-fire  did  not  paint  him  to  a  prowling 
aim,  bury  his  head  in  his  blanket,  and  sleep  with  the  rest. 

All  the  camp  slept  mightily ;  the  whole  wearied  com- 
pany took  in  deep  draughts  of  midnight  slumber  and 
emitted  them  peacefully  or  in  emulative  snores.  Rarely  a 
babe  cried.  About  twenty  dogs  the  train  started  with  had 
been  voted  on  and  shot,  to  spare  heart-burnings  between 
owners  of  separate  parties  to  the  incessant  fights,  and  to 
silence  their  own  arguments  with  the  coyotes  at  night. 
The  coyotes  had  the  first  word  and  the  last  word  now, 
pack  answering  pack  from  one  low  sand-hill  chain  to  an- 
other, and  a  sound  of  weird  footsteps  hustled  past  in  the 
dark ;  horses  started  at  their  pickets,  cattle  ceased  chew- 
ing and  breathed  deep.  But  every  one  was  grown  accus- 
tomed to  the  desert  sounds  thrown  up  on  the  desert  silence. 
Only  the  wind  never  rested,  prowling  about  camp,  seeking 
something  to  displace ;  —  a  bit  of  tumble-weed  to  play 
with,  a  wagon-sheet  to  flap,  or  a  woman's  rocking-chair 
left  out,  to  set  in  motion. 

Through  the  rear  opening  in  the  wagon-hood,  this  was 
what  Barbie  saw,  one  moonless  night  when  the  wind  was 
rising :  the  little  Boston  rocker  that  used  to  be  in  her 
mother's  bedroom  rocking  empty  in  a  blink  of  firelight. 
Father  had  said  he  would  take  that  chair  through  to  Ore- 
gon, patchwork  cushion  and  all,  if  he  left  the  family  Bible. 
Every  evening  at  supper-time  he  brought  it  out  for  his 


116  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

wife  to  sit  in,  by  the  cooking-fire  that  each  family  built  at 
the  heel  of  its  wagon,  but  sometimes  he  forgot  to  take  it  in. 
Barbie  was  startled.  It  looked  "so  like  mother  "  —  rock- 
ing in  the  night  in  the  middle  of  the  continent  alone,  too 
homesick  to  rest,  or  as  if  grieving  in  wakeful  silence  over 
a  trouble  no  one  could  share. 

We  give  the  fancy  as  it  struck  the  girl,  who  was  but  half 
awake.  She  asked  herself  what  had  wakened  her  ?  —  she 
was  conscious  of  having  been  very  deep  asleep,  and  the 
night  in  pauses  had  been  so  still !  It  might  have  been  the 
wind  getting  up  strong ;  the  wagon-cover  had  blown  back 
at  the  rear  end  where  Stella  lay.  That  was  why  she  could 
see  out  so  plain ;  that  and  one  other  reason :  Stella  was 
not  there. 

It  took  a  moment  to  make  sure  of  this.  Then  she  called 
her  by  name,  in  a  guarded  voice,  "  Stella,"  and  again, 
"Stella?"  No  answer  betrayed  the  silence.  The  little 
rocker  paused  as  if  listening  too. 

While  hunting  for  a  cloak  Barbie  explored  the  wagon, 
every  part ;  there  was  no  other  person  in  it.  Stella  might 
have  awakened,  feeling  sick,  and  gone  to  speak  to  mother ; 
she  had  not  always  seemed  so  well  these  late  days  nor  in 
such  high  spirits ;  none  of  them  were. 

Before  her  feet  touched  ground,  Jimmy  Yardley  was 
beside  her. 

"  Is  anything  wrong  ?  " 

It  was  Jimmy's  night  on  watch,  but  he  was  middle 
guard.  His  post  was  at  the  opposite  arc  of  the  great  cir- 
cle, yet  he  had  heard  her  call ;  and  Brad  burn,  their  pro- 
tector, sleeping  not  five  rods  away,  did  not  stir.  Instinct- 
ively she  spoke  low,  dreading  that  he  would  rise  and 
confront  them. 


THE  WAGONS   AT  NIGHT  117 

"  I  want  to  see  mother  a  moment.  I  am  afraid  —  some 
one  —  is  sick." 

This  was  a  lame  excuse  for  being  up  in  the  night,  but 
she  could  not  bring  out  Stella's  name ;  nor  did  Jimmy 
ask  another  question.  His  eyes,  accustomed  to  the  dark, 
had  satisfied  him  as  he  helped  Barbie  to  the  ground  that 
the  wagon  she  had  left  was  empty.  They  stole  across  to 
the  family  camp  and  he  waited  while  the  women  whispered 
together. 

"What  is  it,  dear?" 

"  Hush !  don't  let 's  wake  father.  I  can't  find  Stella. 
Isn't  she  here?" 

"Why,  no!  Can't  you  find  her?"  —Barbie  had  just 
said  so.  "  She  must  be  there  with  you." 

"  She  is  not  in  the  wagon." 

"  You  are  sure  ?  " 

"  Of  course,  mother !  Two  persons  can't  lose  each  other 
in  a  wagon." 

"  Well,  I  '11  go  over  and  see.  —  Why,  she  would  n't  get 
up  and  leave  you  without  telling  you  !  " 

Barbie  did  not  dispute  it. 

"  She  may  have  waked  up  and  felt  sick  and  tried  to 
come  over  here,  and  got  confused,"  said  Mrs.  Hannington, 
talking  to  herself  while  she  hastily  added  to  her  clothing. 

They  went  back  together ;  Jimmy  again  stood  aside  and 
said  nothing ;  the  women  looked  into  the  wagon  timidly. 
He  could  not  avoid  hearing  Stella's  voice  in  a  hurried, 
thick,  but  not  sleepy  tone  :  "  Barbie,  what  are  you  doing 
out  there !  Why  do  you  wake  people  up  and  frighten  them 
half  to  death?  Where  in  the  world  have  you  been  ?  " 

"  Where  were  you  ?  "  Aunt  Silence  asked. 

Stella  visibly  started. 


118  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"Why,  nowhere!  Barbie  must  have  left  me  sound 
asleep." 

"  Did  n't  you  hear  me  call  you  ?  " 

"  Did  you  call  ?  When  ?  —  perhaps  it  was  you  that 
woke  me.  I  found  myself  all  doubled  up  in  a  bunch  in 
that  corner"  —  she  laughed.  "My  arm  has  gone  to  sleep. 
I  wish  you  could  wake  that  up !  Do,  Barbie,  speak  to  me 
when  you  get  up  and  go  off  like  that !  " 

Stella  rattled  on ;  no  one  answered  her.  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton  was  shivering,  but  not  with  cold.  It  was  a  new  sensa- 
tion, to  listen  to  one  of  her  own  family  —  lying.  She 
was  no  judge  of  counterfeiting,  but  her  own  tense  earnest- 
ness told  her  that  the  girl,  confused  and  frightened,  had 
attempted  a  hasty  part  and  was  not  doing  it  well. 

Jimmy  and  Barbie  knew  beyond  doubt  that  she  was 
lying,  but  such  was  the  staggering  effect  of  the  know- 
ledge they  shared,  and  the  reluctance  of  sensitive  persons 
to  accuse  another  on  their  own  bare  assertion,  it  is  pro- 
bable both  would  have  said,  if  evidence  had  been  demanded 
of  them,  that  they  might  be  mistaken ;  Stella  might  have 
been  in  the  wagon  asleep  all  the  time. 

Bradburn  surprised  them,  coming  up  apparently  from 
making  his  rounds  of  the  camp.  It  is  hard  to  say  why 
they  did  not  believe  this  either  ;  they  were  in  a  doubting 
mood.  He  presented  his  enquiries  to  the  mother  who 
stared  at  him,  pale  as  a  ghost. 

No,  there  was  nothing  he  could  do ;  she  thanked  him. 
Barbie  had  been  over  to  see  her  a  moment.  She  had  had 
a  little  scare ;  they  were  going  back  now. 

"  Mother,  you  will  come  back  to  us !  "  Barbie  whispered. 

Jimmy  heard  her  and  ground  his  teeth. 

Bradburn   stepped  up  to  him.    "  Are  n't  you   middle 


THE   WAGONS   AT  NIGHT  119 

guard  to-night  ?  —  Then  what  are  you  doing  over  here  ? 
You  'd  better  get  back  to  your  own  post.  I  '11  see  to  the 
ladies  if  they  want  anything." 

"  Mother,  you  will  come  back !  " 

"  I  am  going  to  trouble  Jimmy  Yardley  one  moment, 
Mr.  Bradburn ;  —  then  he  can  go.  You  were  not  here,  you 
know." 

It  was  very  easily  arranged,  Mr.  Hannington  assenting, 
half  asleep,  and  surprised  next  morning  not  to  find  his 
wife  in  her  own  place.  He  had  forgotten  that  she  had 
wakened  him. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SILENCE 

TRUTH  is  hard  to  kill  and  lies,  the  frightened  assassins, 
dig  shallow  graves.  Jimmy's  system  was  purged,  that 
night,  of  the  last  dregs  of  his  infatuation. 

He  had  flattered  himself  of  late  that  if  he  chose  to  try, 
it  might  be  possible  to  win  over  a  girl  so  changed  as 
Stella  seemed,  to  a  sweeter  form  of  womanhood.  He 
laughed  at  himself  hideously  now.  Her  lie,  her  own 
laugh,  had  worked  his  cure.  He  tested  the  strength  of  his 
clean  scorn,  and  knew  that  he  was  free.  But  he  was  not 
yet  able  to  pity  her:  she  had  cost  him  too  much.  Six 
months  may  seem  a  long  time  to  a  boy  when  he  has  reason 
to  believe  they  have  changed  his  whole  life.  Barbie,  whom 
he  might  have  won,  was  as  steel  to  him  now ;  cold,  springy, 
keen-edged  steel.  He  never  knew  how  she  would  answer 
when  he  spoke  to  her.  Her  state  of  mind  need  not  be 
pried  into  ;  it  was  her  business  to  guard  it  and  she  did  it 
well.  But  her  mother,  her  unhappy  mother,  was  to  be 
stripped  of  unconsciousness  ;  dragged  by  unnamable  sus- 
picions through  that  knowledge  which  the  terrible  intim- 
acy of  women  gives  them  of  each  other  and  the  advantage 
experience  has  over  youth,  towards  a  discovery  which 
threatened  to  wreck  her  home.  Her  heart  fainted  within 
her  ;  for  on  her  it  rested  —  such  was  her  resolve  —  to 
hide  what  she  knew,  and  spare  her  own  family  the  shame 
and  perplexity  of  the  task  she  set  herself  in  dealing  with 
it  alone ;  and  finally,  to  reckon  with  her  own  conscience 


SILENCE  121 


in  daring  to  do  this,  notwithstanding  her  sworn  obligations 
as  a  member  of  Mr.  Yardley's  picked  company. 

Mrs.  Hannington  has  put  herself  on  record  as  one  who 
desired  to  be  shown  her  duty  when  in  doubt.  In  this  case 
she  hugged  what  few  doubts  were  left  and  prayed  to  be 
in  ignorance  as  long  as  possible.  She  shut  out  of  her 
mind  all  speculation  as  to  who  could  be  the  man  who  was 
responsible  for  this  woe.  His  name  she  refused  to  guess, 
yet  there  is  no  refuting  a  certain  sort  of  evidence  that  is 
never  brought  into  court  —  and  her  husband  was  in  this 
man's  power.  They  all  were  —  as  their  financier  and 
leader  and  guide.  She  exaggerated,  perhaps,  the  extent 
of  his  importance  to  them,  —  but  she  feared  him  too 
much  to  dare  be  the  means  of  an  open  collision  be- 
tween him  and  Mr.  Yardley,  whom  she  knew  no  thought 
of  expediency  would  turn  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  con- 
ception of  duty.  She  dreaded  the  position  her  poor  hus- 
band ^would  find  himself  in,  between  the  family  honor  and 
the  future  of  all  of  them  in  material  ways.  Stella,  unhappy 
child,  was  not  one  of  them,  yet  they  had  counted  her  in,  at 
great  cost  of  anxiety  and  responsibility.  It  seemed  fantas- 
tically unjust  that  everything  they  had  or  hoped  to  have 
should  be  lost  through  her,  even  to  the  family  good  name. 

They  stopped  over  more  than  a  week  at  Fort  Laramie 
—  incomprehensibly  to  some.  Bradburn  waited  for  those 
six  minutes  with  Kunning  Water  across  the  river,  for  if 
he  came  inside  the  fort,  Running  Water  would  mix  him- 
self with  whiskey,  and  it  was  time  he  was  going  south. 

The  greater  company  broke  up  in  two  divisions  and 
both  passed  on :  —  those  for  California,  and  those  for 
Oregon  by  Fort  Hall  and  Fort  Boise  and  Black's  Fork  to 
the  gates  of  the  Blue  Mountains. 


122  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

Our  small  band,  condensed  as  to  outfit  and  refreshed 
in  body,  left  Laramie  the  second  week  in  July.  They 
toiled  up  the  rugged  valley  of  the  North  Platte  and  en- 
tered the  Black  Hills ;  they  passed  Independence  Rock, 
"  the  great  register  of  the  desert,"  and  saw  the  grave  of 
poor  young  Bailey  of  the  train  ahead,  shot  by  accident 
and  buried  here  on  the  road  of  the  million  feet  to  come. 
An  Indian  with  gestures  and  broken  talk  told  the  story 
and  grinned  in  the  way  of  a  savage  when  he  speaks  of 
cruelty  or  tragedy. 

It  was  the  dry  grass  plains  that  lay  before  them  now, 
the  Indian's  hunting-ground  and  the  buffalo's  range.  The 
native  possessors  of  this  solitude  met  them  and  petty  bar- 
gains were  transacted.  Many  buffalo  were  killed.  There 
was  no  time  nor  horse-flesh  to  spend  on  sport  for  its  own 
sake,  but  the  camp  commissariat  was  overburdened  with 
meat  which  the  young  men  brought  in  piles  as  an  excuse 
for  the  excitement  of  killing;  so  many  fresh  carcasses 
hanging  in  sight,  so  much  blood  and  offal,  made  some  of 
the  women  sick.  Stella  said  she  never  wished  to  eat  meat 
again. 

July  gave  way  to  August ;  the  days  were  hot,  the  nights 
astonishingly  cold.  They  saw  mountains  covered  with  snow 
to  the  southeast ;  but  they  were  in  the  midst  of  dust,  — 
the  summer's  long  burden  of  drought  lay  heavy  on  the 
land.  Mrs.  Hannington's  surgical  patient  had  asked  to  be 
left  at  Fort  Laramie  where  Bradburn  replaced  him  with 
a  sound  man.  The  girls  were  back  in  the  family  wagon 
again.  It  was  this  interval,  between  not  seeing  Stella  and 
seeing  her  again,  unprotected  as  to  dress,  that  forced  the 
truth  upon  the  mother.  She  fought  against  it  till,  in  a 
dreadful  way  known  to  all  who  have  suffered  unnatural 


SILENCE  123 


things,  she  grew  used  to  the  fact  and  bowed  her  pride  to 
meet  it. 

Stella  became  certain  that  her  aunt  knew  all ;  she  nerved 
herself,  expecting  cruel  scenes.  None  came.  The  silence 
frightened  her.  She  was  meek  enough  now  ;  she  clung  to 
the  woman  who  held  this  power  over  her  and  forebore  to 
use  it,  with  such  marvellous  strength  and  constancy  while 
suffering,  as  her  looks  showed,  more,  probably,  than 
Stella  did  herself.  Of  such  characteristics  in  the  persons 
about  her,  she  knew  little. 

Long  hours  Aunt  Silence  pondered,  while  the  wagons 
toiled  on.  Absorbed,  strangely  separated  in  thought  from 
those  around  her,  she  sat  by  the  evening  fire,  in  her  little 
rocking  chair.  The  camp-fire  was  built  now  on  the  grades 
of  the  South  Pass  —  those  amazing  easy  stages  of  the 
climb,  which  the  minister  said  showed  that  Providence 
had  left  a  door  open  from  East  to  West,  as  a  sign  that 
his  people  should  be  one.  They  hardly  knew  when  the 
highest  point  was  gained,  but  Bradburn  announced  it  and 
cried  theatrically,  "  Hail,  Oregon  —  and  Japan  and  China 
and  the  East !  Here  the  great  snake  turns  to  find  its  tail ! 
—  buried  in  the  Pacific  —  emerging  where  the  East  begins 
to  rise.  Now  the  waters  go  the  other  way  ! "  But  they 
were  not  yet  across  the  Blue  Mountains. 

In  this  pure  altitude  the  brain  works  clear.  Mrs.  Han- 
nington  shook  off  her  weakness  and  formed  a  plan. 
Alas!  had  she  but  known  what  she  knew  now,  before 
they  left  Fort  Laramie.  Possibly  it  needed  those  weeks 
of  hard  thinking,  steadily  facing  an  approaching  dread, 
to  nerve  her  for  this  solution  and  for  the  battle  with  her 
family  such  a  proposal  meant. 

It  suited  her  now  to  be  told  she  was  looking  "  miserable." 


124  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Your  mother  don't  seem  to  be  standing  the  travel  near 
so  well  as  she  did  at  first,"  Alvin  said  to  his  confidant  in 
all  things  not  to  be  spoken  of  to  "mother  "  herself.  Barbie 
owned  she  had  noticed  the  same  thing.  "  She  ?s  falling 
away  in  flesh,  she's  lost  that  good 'tan,  and  she  looks  as 
sallow  as  a  nervous  invalid.  Your  mother  never  was  nerv- 
ous. —  She  don't  eat  enough  to  keep  a  bird  alive."  Alvin 
could  not  say  how  little  she  slept,  —  he  slept  sound  him- 
self, —  but  her  wretched  eyes  at  daybreak  told  the  story 
of  the  night. 

"  She  says  her  head  swims  with  the  shaking  of  the 
wagon  the  whole  time.  She  gets  short  of  breath,  and  her 
strength  will  go  all  in  a  second."  —  But  it  never  went  so 
far  as  loss  of  consciousness  and  the  power  to  smile  and 
say,  "  It  is  nothing."  The  steadfast  woman  bided  her  time. 
Since  it  was  too  late  now  for  Fort  Laramie  her  hope  lay 
in  Fort  Hall,  their  next  important  station. 

She  began  to  ask  questions  as  many  others  were  doing, 
but  she  asked  different  questions.  Fort  Hall  was  now  a 
British  post.  Nathaniel  Wyeth,  who  built  it  in  revenge 
to  hurt  the  American  fur  company,  — "  to  roll  a  stone 
into  their  garden," —  had  been  frozen  out  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  people  who  were  just  completing  Fort  Boise  to  head 
him  off  on  the  other  side.  No  wonder  the  plucky  Yankee 
was  forced  to  drop  his  prey. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  sent  to  Fort  Hall  Cap- 
tain Grant,  not  a  young  man ;  report  said  a  gentleman  but 
something  of  an  eccentric.  He  had  been  at  outs  with 
his  company ;  had  lately  gone  back  to  them,  or  they  had 
induced  him  to  come  back,  but  he  ranked  lower  by  some 
grades  than  he  would  have  had  he  not  broken  his  connec- 
tion with  them.  This  small  post  was  the  only  one  open  to 


SILENCE  125 


him.  It  was  exceedingly  well  managed  and  trade  was 
coming  in  fast.  He  was  very  haughty  with  the  tribes,  al- 
lowed no  familiarity ;  the  women,  for  instance, —  "nothing 
of  that  kind  for  him." 

All  this  gossip,  much  of  it  untrue,  Aunt  Silence  amassed 
to  her  husband's  astonishment;  women  always  wanted  to 
hear  about "  the  folks  "  inside  of  these  places  which  to  the 
men  meant  rest  and  barter  and  repairs  ;  old  horses  for  fresh 
ones,  old  harness  for  new ;  time  and  tools  to  construct 
those  pioneer  carts, —  two  wheels  showing  the  way  to 
four  wheels  that  were  to  follow  next  year :  hanging  over 
torrents,  stalled  in  the  snow,  crashing  down  rocky  canyons, 
lowered  by  ropes  from  the  horns  of  precipices  where  only 
a  wagon-body  with  wings  could  pass. 

Mrs.  Hannington,  pondering  in  silence  on  the  character 
report  gave  to  the  commandant  at  Fort  Hall,  said  to  her- 
self, "  It  will  have  to  do  !  " 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  FIRST  ADMONITION 

"  STAY  up  after  the  rest  to-night,  Stella :  I  want  to 
have  a  little  talk  with  you." 

It  was  time  for  travellers  to  be  abed.  Mr.  Hannington 
was  already  asleep  in  the  elders'  end  of  the  wagon.  The 
fire  outside  scarcely  blazed,  but  it  showed  dimly  four  per- 
sons watching  in  front  of  it :  Barbara  on  her  mother's 
right  and  Jimmy  Yardley  next,  seated  sombrely,  thought- 
fully apart ;  only  his  voice  blent  with  hers  in  the  ancient 
music  of  "  Transfiguration."  The  bare  stars  listened  un- 
amazed  in  spaces  of  sky  framed  in  the  lofty  darkness  of 
strange  forests :  — 

"  O  Master,  it  is  good  to  be 
With  thee  and  with  thy  faithful  three, 
Here,  where  the  apostles'  heart  of  rock 
Is  nerved  against  temptation's  shock  ; 
Here,  where  the  son  of  thunder  learns 
The  thought  that  breathes,  the  word  that  burns  ; 
Here,  where  on  eagles'  wings  we  move 
With  Him  whose  last,  best  creed  is  love." 

The  young  soprano  sent  its  clear,  vaulting  notes  aloft 
as  if  to  escape  the  thick,  shaken  second,  pursuing,  enfold- 
ing them. 

"  O  Master,  it  is  good  to  be 
Here,  on  the  holy  mount  with  thee, 
When,  darkling  in  the  depths  of  night, 
When  dazzled  with  excess  of  light, 


THE  FIRST  ADMONITION  127 

We  bow  before  the  heavenly  voice 
That  bids  bewildered  souls  rejoice  ; 
Though  love  wax  cold  and  faith  be  dim, 
This  is  my  Son,  oh,  hear  ye  him." 

Stella  was  on  the  ground  at  Mrs.  Hannington's  left 
side,  her  golden  head  in  the  motherly  lap.  With  one  arm 
she  half  embraced  the  little  rocker  as  if  to  keep  her  head- 
rest still.  —  What  tales  they  could  tell,  these  New  Eng- 
land rocking-chairs !  of  nerves  relieved,  or  tortured,  by 
their  ceaseless  oscillations  ;  long  aching  thoughts  of  sons 
at  sea  or  vanished  on  the  uncharted  plains ;  husbands 
grown  harsh  and  cold,  struggling  with  debt ;  —  daughters 
with  too  many  babies  and  all  their  own  work  to  do ; 
daughters  wasting  their  bloom  waiting  for  some  other 
mother's  son  who  never  wrote  nor  came ;  proud  silences 
of  misunderstanding,  burning  silences  of  injury  and  re- 
gret; bitter  silences  of  resentment  hardening  into  hate. 
But  problems  of  this  kind  —  not  often  ! 

"  Stella,  how  would  you  like  it,  if  you  and  I  were  to 
stay  over  at  Fort  Hall  and  let  the  others  go  on  without  us?  " 

Aunt  Silence  spoke  in  her  peaceful,  everyday  tone, 
rather  more  gently  than  usual.  Stella's  cheek  had  whit- 
ened miserably  ;  her  breath  came  hard,  for  she  knew  her 
hour  was  come.  Still,  no  advantage  taken  of  the  fact  that 
they  were  now  without  listeners !  The  blood  drummed  in 
her  ears  so  that  she  scarcely  heard  the  words  first  spoken ; 
no  others  followed.  She  could  bear  the  suspense  no  longer. 

"  Don't  be  afraid  to  speak  to  me,  Aunt  Silence." 

"  I  am  speaking,  now.  Do  you  expect  me  to  be  ugly  to 
you?  I  never  mean  to  be.  It's  strange,  but  I  believe 
I  'm  learning  to  love  you  —  now,  when  I  'd  a  good  deal 
rather  see  you  dead." 


128  A   PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  am  in  your  power.  If  you  love  me  —  now,  it 's  be- 
cause you  are  a  great  person.  I  have  learned  to  love  you. 
But  you  must  not  despair  of  me.  I  shall  be  his  wife,  per- 
haps in  a  year." 

"  You  poor  child  !  They  all  say  that." 

" '  They '  are  not  like  him.  He  is  not  like  any  one.  I 
can't  tell  you  all  the  cruel  reasons  there  were  —  for  what 
has  happened."  Stella  sat  up,  speaking  fast  though 
hardly  above  a  whisper.  "  He  loves  me  beyond  —  be- 
yond everything  that  people  are  careful  about ;  it  was  so 
from  the  first.  He  may  not  be  good  in  your  way,  but  I 
cannot  change  him.  I  have  given  him  my  life.  I  do 
everything — give  everything  he  asks  ;  he  knows  just  how 
to  make  me.  It  is  love,  and  it  will  be  marriage." 

"  —  When  he  has  done  a  great  wrong  to  another  woman 
in  order  to  right  you.  He  never  can  right  you." 

"  Don't !  Don't  speak  his  name !  It  would  bring  de- 
struction on  us  all  if  it  was  known." 

"  I  don't  want  his  name  ;  —  I  have  a  name  for  him ! 
But  do  you  realize  what 's  before  you? " 

Mrs.  Hannington  talked  for  some  moments  in  an  under- 
tone, Stella  holding  her  hand  clasped  tight  in  hers  ;  now 
and  then  she  answered  a  question.  She  kissed  her  aunt's 
hand,  who  drew  it  away  quickly  and  then,  with  a  sigh, 
gave  it  back. 

"  Don't  you  want  Uncle  Alvin  to  stay  with  us  ?  " 

"  No  ;  for  then  Barbie  would  have  to." 

Stella  breathed  deep  while  this  stone  settled  on  her 
heart ;  it  was  not  cast  at  her ;  it  fell  by  its  inevitable 
weight.  Her  aunt  and  uncle  and  Barbie  she  knew  had 
never  been  separated.  What  separation  in  such  circum- 
stances would  mean  to  them,  she  was  learning  to  know, 


THE  FIRST  ADMONITION  129 

as  she  began  to  understand  these  people  ;  their  dumb, 
deep  attachments  and  the  price  they  would  pay  for  a  prin- 
ciple of  conduct.  Aunt  Silence  was  ready  to  pay  the  price 
of  that  winter  at  Fort  Hall  to  keep  her  own  child  clean 
of  this  thiog  which  she  handled  herself  so  calmly.  "  Bar- 
bie's life  and  mine/'  thought  Stella,  "  will  never  be  allowed 
to  touch  again."  Gently  but  absolutely  she  was  judged. 

"  You  will  never  see  it  of  course  as  it  really  is.  It  is 
quite  the  same  as  if  I  were  his  wife.  I  should  have  to  con- 
sult him,  about  this,  for  instance." 

Mrs.  Hannington  tasted  the  withdrawal,  the  working  of 
that  obstinacy  which  she  knew  this  easy-going  nature 
abundantly  held. 

"  You  need  not  consult  '  him '  about  his  coming  to  Fort 
Hall.  If  you  go  there  with  me  he  stays  away,  remember." 

"  All  winter,  of  course ;  but  you  would  not  prevent  his 
coming  next  spring,  to  arrange  about  our  marriage  ?  " 

"  Spring  is  a  long  way  off.  You  will  have  other  things 
to  think  about  before  spring." 

"  And  you  would  stay  there  all  winter  with  me,  alone 
—  in  that  place!  Would  Uncle  Alvin  allow  it?" 

"  If  I  made  him  see  I  need  the  rest ;  and  I  certainly  do!  " 

"  But  would  n't  he  insist  on  staying  with  you  ?  " 

"  We  'd  lose  what  little  we  have  left  to  start  on,  if  he 
does.  He  must  be  out  there  next  spring  to  take  up  his  land 
with  the  others ;  he  can't  draw  out  now.  He  would  see 
that,  the  first  thing  —  not  knowing  about  this.  I  may  have 
to  tell  him  before  I  can  get  his  consent  for  me  to  stay :  I 
shan't  unless  I  have  to." 

"  You  are  wonderfully  good  to  me.  —  Barbie  will  not  un- 
derstand why  you  keep  me  instead  of  her  ?  " 

"I  can  show  her  that  father  needs  her  most.    He  must 


130  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

have  one  of  us;  if  I  drop  out  she  must  take  my  place.  — 
Don't  do  that !  "  Stella  was  kissing  her  hand  again  —  "I  'd 
rather  you  'd  trust  me  than  that.  You  will  have  to  choose 
between  him  and  me ;  don't  think  you  can  mix  us  up.  I 
cannot  help  your  speaking  to  him,  but  he  can't  speak  to 
me  —  I  don't  want  a  word  with  him." 

There  is  no  danger  of  that.  I  have  not  told  you  his 
name.  But  if  you  knew,  you  'd  understand  the  difference." 

"What  difference?" 

"  How  big  he  is.  If  you  lose  the  world  for  love,  Aunt 
Silence,  you  want  to  feel  you  have  got  something  better 
in  its  place." 

Aunt  Silence  took  a  long,  slow  breath.  "  Is  the  world 
all  you  think  you  have  lost  ?  —  Stella,  your  poor  little  soul 
is  not  born  yet.  And  you  are  bringing  into  this  life  an- 
other soul." 

"  Why  do  you  do  so  much  for  me>  if  you  can't  bear  what 
I  have  done?" 

"  I  guess  we  '11  have  to  bear  it ;  I  don't  pretend  I  do  it 
all  for  you,  either :  I  want  to  keep  this  thing  from  spread- 
ing. I  want  to  hold  it  back  till  we  can  have  a  chance  to 
bear  it  by  ourselves,  where  it  don't  hem  us  in  so  and 
hurt  everybody  else.  If  you  will  go  back  and  forth  be- 
tween us,  don't  you  give  him  the  idea  that  because  I 
know  it  and  keep  it,  I  tolerate  it.  If  you  were  my  own 
daughter  I'd  rather  see  you  in  your  grave." 

"Do  you  think  I  shall  tell  him  that?"  said  Stella 
softly.  "  Perhaps  you  would  rather  see  even  me  there  !  " 

"  Worse  might  happen  to  you  but  our  Lord  knows 
best.  If  he  means  you  to  live  and  learn,  I  suppose  you 
will  have  to.  But  if  you  live  and  don't  learn,  —  at  least 
how  to  suffer,  —  you  might  as  well  be  dead." 


THE  FIRST  ADMONITION  131 

"  I  don't  suppose  I  do  suffer,"  she  admitted  tentatively. 
"  —  Do  you  want  me  to  ?  " 

"  Not  physically  :  I  should  like  to  see  you  able  to  suffer 
in  your  mind,  though,  or  your  conscience  ?  " 

"  It  may  come,"  said  Stella. 

"  It  has  come,  but  you  don't  feel  it !  If  it  was  n't  real, 
—  this  shame  and  suffering,  —  why  should  I  feel  it,  an 
old  woman  like  me  ?  If  it  is  n't  a  real  thing,  why  do  I  try 
to  keep  it  from  hurting  the  nearest  ones  I  have  ?  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  shame,  and  right  and  wrong.  To  get  a 
thing  you  have  wanted  —  is  that  the  whole  of  life  for 
you?" 

"  The  shame  seems  to  come  from  giving  more  than 
your  share.  I  did  n't  want  —  any  more  than  he  wanted. 
But  these  people  are  nothing  to  us,  Aunt  Silence  ;  their 
opinion  of  me  does  n't  matter." 

Stella  drew  back  and  released  the  sitter,  who  rose  and 
looked  into  the  distance  a  moment.  "  You  go  first,"  she 
said  sternly. 

"  Would  you  kiss  me,  Aunt  Silence  ?  " 

"  —  In  a  way,  I  would ;  but  I  don't  feel  to  kiss  you 
truly,  after  that  last  speech.  There  's  something  else  you 
need  inside,  that  I  can't  give  you.  Oh,  if  you  only  —  "  she 
could  not  mention  prayer  for  she  knew  the  words  would 
be  wasted ;  she  could  not  lay  her  lifelong  faith  at  the  feet 
of  this  ignorant  child  to  stare  at. 

After  all  the  dreaded  plan  had  cost  her,  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton  was  to  be  kept  waiting  for  "  his  "  opinion  of  it,  and  to 
learn  at  last  that  he  considered  it  impossible,  for  many  rea- 
sons which  Stella  hastened  to  set  forth  as  plausibly  as  she 
could,  in  defence  of  this  mad  dismissal.  Her  aunt  listened 
in  silence. 


132  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

The  difficulties  of  the  road  ahead  had  been  exaggerated 
(he  thought).  The  winter  at  Fort  Hall  would  mean  a  long 
separation  (for  them)  and  a  long,  out-of-the-way  journey 
for  him  to  fetch  her.  And  Fort  Hall  was  a  place  he 
could  n't  fetch  her  from ;  it  was  the  post  of  a  black  enemy 
of  his,  the  new  commandant  — fortunately  away  just  now 
on  a  trade  mission  to  some  far-off  tribal  village ;  but  he 
would  return  before  snow  fell.  To  leave  in  Grant's  care 
anything  he  valued,  and  come  and  thank  him  for  the 
favor,  was  absurd !  They  had  crossed  each  other's  trails 
in  time  past ;  they  might  do  so  once  too  often  —  for  one 
of  them. 

Stella  did  not  give  "  his  "  opinion  in  his  own  language, 
which  was  as  well ;  even  so,  Aunt  Silence  was  not  appeased. 

"  On  your  own  heads  be  it  then !  There  is  just  one  more 
chance  left:  did  you  ask  him  anything  about  Fort  Boise  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  it  is  a  new  little  fort,  hardly  finished  ;  there  is 
only  one  white  man  there  and  he  is  a  Frenchman." 

Mrs.  Hannington  cast  her  hands  into  her  lap.  "  Re- 
member, now,  who  it  is  you  are  trusting !  " 

"  But  I  must  do  as  he  says,  Aunt  Silence.  If  I  don't, 
it  will  give  him  his  first  excuse  —  " 

"  Excuse  for  what  ?  " 

"  What  you  say  *  they '  always  do.  —  If  he  is  one 
of  '  them,'  I  have  got  a  great  deal  to  learn  ;  but  I  did  n't 
suppose  that  you  could  teach  me !  " 

"  Stella !  I  could  tell  you  had  been  with  that  man  by 
your  having  the  face  to  say  such  a  thing  to  me.  You  don't 
love  him  to  trust  him.  You  are  afraid  he  '11  be  off  and  not 
give  you  what  you  expect  for  what  you  've  given  him.  I 
could  almost  bear  it  if  I  thought  it  was  true  love  with 
either  of  you;  I  might  have  some  compunction  about 


THE  FIRST  ADMONITION  133 

coming  between  you.  But  he  '11  never  do  you  any  good  by 
anything  he  gives  you.  He'll  make  you  just  like  him- 
self, or  he  '11  get  tired  of  you  and  desert  you  when  you  're 
in  some  worse  strait  than  you  are  now.  Now,  you  have 
got  us  still;  what  you  want  to  do  is  to  face  this  thing  and 
choose  "  — 

"  I  have  chosen,"  said  Stella  faintly.  —  "  Forgive  me, 
but  I  must." 

"  "Well,  if  you  see  it  that  way,  I  'm  sorry  for  your 
blindness.  Your  eyes  will  be  opened  some  day !  " 


CHAPTEE  XVI 

THE   SECOND   ADMONITION 

"  SEPTEMBER  14th," — quoting  from  Hannington's  diary 
of  their  journey,  preserved  in  the  family  but  seldom  read, 
we  think,  by  any  of  Alvin's  descendants  of  to-day  —  "  our 
horses  strayed  far  from  camp,  and  instead  of  an  early 
start  as  we  intended,  got  off  by  9  o'clock.  We  left  the 
Branch  [of  the  Powder  Kiver?]  and  gradually  rose  a  long 
hill.  Stopped  for  dinner  on  a  small  stream  at  12  o'clock, 
started  2  J,  continued  to  rise  by  degrees.  The  country  we 
travelled  to-day  was  thickly  covered  with  bunch-grass 
which  the  horses  are  very  fond  of.  We  found  at  last  the 
top  of  the  mountain.  At  a  distance  we  could  see  what 
we  suppose  to  be  the  Blue  Mountains  and  they  struck  us 
with  terror.  —  Their  peaks  seemed  a  resting-place  for 
the  clouds.  Below  us  was  a  great  plain  and  at  some  dis- 
tance we  could  discover  a  tree  which  we  recognized  as  the 
Lone  Tree  of  which  we  had  heard  before." 

If  men  of  Hannington's  breed  were  "  struck  with  ter- 
ror "  at  the  way  before  them,  how  must  it  have  been  with 
that  soft  bundle  of  sensation  clothed  in  flesh  which  awaited 
the  unborn  soul  of  Stella  Mutrie  ?  Her  will  expired  like  a 
snuffed  candle ;  what  was  left,  it  puzzled  a  woman  of  Mrs. 
Hannington's  experience  to  deal  with. 

—  "  Can't  go  on  ?  Why,  there 's  nothing  else  you  can 
do,  now ! " 

"  I  must  speak  to  him,  then.  Aunt  Silence,  won't  you 


THE  SECOND  ADMONITION  135 

try  to  manage  so  I  can  have  another  talk  with  him  by 
ourselves  ?  " 

The  closer  organization  since  they  became  a  small  com- 
pany brought  each  individual  under  the  constant  obser- 
vation of  the  others.  This  had  estranged  Stella  of  late 
from  Bradburn's  direct  influence  ;  she  escaped  easily  from 
the  effect  of  her  most  binding  impressions. 

A  New  England  woman  of  Silence  Hannington's  make 
is  no  worm :  she  turned,  and  answered  with  exasperated 
contempt :  — 

"If  you  want  to  manage  any  more  of  those  talks,  you 
will  have  to  get  along  without  me.  You  took  his  advice  at 
Fort  Hall ;  I  ought  to  have  told  your  uncle^then.  Now  I 
shall  speak  to  him,  whether  or  no !  And  you  '11  do  what 
lie  says." 

Mr.  Hannington,  during  the  noon  halt,  was  taking  a 
brief  nap  in  a  sitting  posture  braced  against  a  roll  of 
blankets  on  the  ground.  His  wife  disturbed  him,  asking 
him  to  get  up  and  step  away  with  her  a  piece. 

"Haven't  we  stepped  about  far  enough?  You  going 
back  to  Green  River! "  he  joked,  as  she  led  him  away  some 
distance  out  of  ear-shot. 

With  the  empty  continent  receding  in  every  direc- 
tion from  their  pygmy  group,  privacy  was  the  last  thing 
possible  to  any  two  persons  or  any  one  family  on  this 
march. 

"  I  've  got  a  dreadful  thing  to  tell  you,  father,  and  I 
don't  want  it  should  be  overheard." 

Alvin's  jaw  fell;  he  looked  at  his  wife  pathetically: 
she  understood  the  appeal. 

"  No,  no ;  it 's  nothing  to  do  with  Barbie.  She 's  safe 
out  of  it,  and  I  mean  she  shall  be.  —  But  there !  she  can't 


136  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

be ;  none  of  us  can.  It  don't  seem  to  me  we  've  ever  known 
what  trouble  was  before." 

He  would  not  believe  her  at  first  and  then  he  was 
.stunned,  but  as  the  fact  was  forced  upon  him  he  broke 
out  in  tones  that  shocked  her  nerves ;  she  had  no  patience 
with  his  manlike  carelessness  of  listeners.  He  talked  as 
loud  as  if  they  were  shut  up  in  their  own  sitting-room  with 
house  walls  and  a  door-yard  between  them  and  neighborly 
curiosity.  In  spite  of  the  total  exposure  they  were  drifting 
on,  she  clung  to  her  lifelong  habit  of  reticence  in  family 
troubles  not  to  be  classed  as  direct  dispensations. 

"  Hush — sh,  for  goodness'  sake !  "  she  prayed  in  despair, 
and  could  have  shaken  him  like  a  child. 

"I  shan't  hush!  It's  been  hushed  up  plenty  long 
enough.  It  ought  to  have  gone  to  Mr.  Yardley  the  very 
first  minute  you  knew  it.  It  looks  almost  as  if  you  'd 
consented  to  it.  I  never  knew  you  to  do  so,  mother.  It 
cuts  me  like  everything  to  own  it  up  now." 

"  It  isn't  you:  I  take  it  all  on  me,  every  bit.  I  couldn't 
bring  myself  to  believe  it ;  then  I  thought  I  could  just  take 
care  of  it  alone.  Of  course  it  will  have  to  come  out  sooner 
or  later,  but  nobody  ever  had  to  bear  such  a  thing  with  so 
many  folks  around!  And  carry  it  along  with  us — the 
man  too!  And  our  Barbie,  and  Jimmy  —  oh  my!  oh  my!" 

"  Mr.  Yardley  won't  carry  it  far  if  I  know  him,"  said 
Alvin,  choking  up  fiercely  at  the  sound  of  his  wife's  wail. 
"  I  shall  see  him  to-night ;  you  've  had  it  on  your  mind 
long  enough." 

"  Not  to-night !  He  won't  sleep  a  wink.  There 's  nothing 
he  can  do  till  to-morrow,  anyhow.  I  know  something  about 
nights." 

"  I  guess  you  do !  You  've  done  enough  and  more  than 


THE   SECOND  ADMONITION  137 

enough  for  that  girl.  I  repudiate  her :  I  won 't  be  respon- 
sible for  what  she 's  liable  to  do  next." 

"You  wouldn't  go  at  it  that  way  if  it  was  our  own 
child." 

"  It  could  n't  be !  She 's  no  blood  of  mine.  There 's  no- 
thing of  her  mother  in  her ;  she 's  her  father  over  again  — 
made  his  money  any  dirty  way  he  could  and  spent  it  the 
same  way." 

"  Don't  take  it  so  —  please,  Alvin !  being  angry  won't 
reach  it.  Do  try  to  go  in  the  right  spirit  when  you  speak 
to  Mr.  Yardley." 

"  Why,  it  seems  to  me  you  've  got  no  spirit  left  at  all. 
Don't  you  realize  what  it  means  ?  I  'm  surprised  at  you, 
Silence!" 

"  I  'm  surprised  at  myself,"  she  owned.  "  I  don't  see  how 
I  put  up  with  it  at  all.  It  don't  seem  as  if  it  could  be  you 
and  me,  talking  about  such  a  thing  right  in  our  own 
family ;  and  everybody  thinking,  I  suppose,  we're  quarrel- 
ling. —  Well ;  I  've  tried  my  way.  Now  you  men  see  what 
you  can  do." 

Alvin,  in  spite  of  his  wife's  plea,  had  his  conversation 
with  the  minister  that  same  evening  —  Jimmy  being  kindly 
invited  to  leave  them.  He  went  across  to  the  Hannington 
camp  and  helped  Barbie  splice  a  clothes-line.  Washing 
was  done  evenings,  a  few  pieces  at  a  time.  Stella  would 
not  wash,  —  said  that  she  could  n't,  and  practically  went 
unwashed  sooner  than  try. 

The  mother  cooked  and  Barbie  washed  for  all ;  and  her 
arms  increased  and  grew  beautiful,  but  she  was  unrecon- 
ciled in  soul.  These  were  Stella's  clothes  the  maiden 
daughter  of  the  house  was  hanging  out  to  "  blow  dry." 
Stella  was  quite  as  handsome  as  ever,  perhaps  handsomer, 


138  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

but  everything  connected  with  her  personally,  including 
her  garments,  was  repellent  to  Barbie  on  grounds  of 
spiritual  caste.  The  odor  of  her  hair  on  the  pillow  next  her 
own  at  night ;  the  sight  of  her  marble  shoulders  when  she 
sat  half  dressed,  feebly  mending  or  altering  some  article 
she  needed  to  put  on,  gave  Barbie  thrills  of  loathing. 

In  a  setting  of  forest  the  night  would  have  been  pitch 
dark,  but  the  vast  overarching  country  of  stars  and 
star-mist  held  light  enough  for  space  to  brood  in.  The 
land  outstretched  beneath  might  have  been  some  worn- 
out  planet's  verge,  and  this  little  handful  of  breathing 
ereatures  the  remnant  of  its  doomed  inhabitants  wait- 
ing for  extinction,  instead  of  the  sorted  seed  of  a  race 
to  come. 

Barbie  stood,  arms  uplifted,  her  small  head  dark 
against  the  stars.  The  wind  wrapped  her  skirts  about 
her  poised,  slender  height  as  she  rose  on  tiptoe,  reach- 
ing for  the  line.  The  corners  of  her  apron  tucked  up  made 
a  bit  of  classic  drapery,  but  in  fact  was  a  pocket  for  clothes- 
pins. She  felt  for  them  nimbly,  and  stuck  them  astride 
the  rope.  Jimmy  watched  her. 

"  Bought  in  Dugdale  ?  " 

Barbie  nodded. 

"  Don't  they  look  human  ?  —  jacking  about  in  the 
breeze  of  the  last  Divide  !  They  ought  to  go  down  to  pos- 
terity:— 4  Clothes-pins  made  in  Massachusetts  that  my 
grandmother  hung  up  her  clothes  with,  all  across  the  con- 
tinent in  '42.'  " 

"  Posterity  may  not  care  to  own  a  grandmother  that 
washed  her  own  clothes." 

"  Posterity  had  better  be  thankful  to  get  one  not  too 
lazy  to  do  it,  or  "  (Jimmy's  eye  was  on  a  pink  sunbonnet 


THE   SECOND   ADMONITION  139 

dangling  by  its  strings  which  was  n't  Barbie's,  he  knew) 
"  selfish  enough  to  make  some  one  else  do  it  for  her !  " 

"  What  they  might  be  proud  of,"  said  Barbie,  "  would 
be  clothes-pins  a  grandfather  hung  up  his  wife's  clothes 
with ! " 

"  Pooh !  who  'd  want  such  a  poor-spirited  grandfather 
as  that  ?  What  does  a  man  take  a  wife  to  Oregon  for !  " 

Barbie  sat  down  on  a  stone  and  hugged  her  elbows  in 
the  folds  of  a  little  blue  shawl  that  she  dragged  about 
her  shoulders.  She  was  so  curt  and  cold  to  him,  and 
she  looked  so  gentle  and  spiritually  worn  that  Jimmy 
could  scarcely  bear  his  share  of  the  estrangement  be- 
tween them.  Yet,  as  he  told  himself,  he  was  getting  his 
deserts. 

"  I  can't  ask  you  to  come  in"  said  Barbie,  "  but  I  can 
ask  you  to  sit  down  outside,  anywhere  " —  she  waved  one 
arm  abroad. 

"  Yes,  it  will  seem  strange  to  shut  doors  again.  Don't 
you  begin  to  like  it  ?  — this  big  house  with  no  walls  ?  Is  n't 
it  a  relief  to  get  rid  of  dusting  chairs  and  cleaning  closets 
—  or  whatever  it  was  you  did  do  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  did  n't  wash  !  On  the  whole  I  think  I  'd  just 
as  soon  do  the  little  things.  Men  hate  them,  but  women 
don't ;  they  take  one  's  mind  off  — 

Barbie  stopped,  and  Jimmy  presently  added  :  — 

"  But  the  sunsets,  and  sunrises,  and  the  stars !  " 

She  looked  up  and  stared  at  the  sky  long,  in  silence. 
"  Yes,"  she  said  at  length,  "  the  house  is  big  enough,  and 
yet  I  've  never  had  such  a  feeling  of  nowhere  to  go.  Home 
is  the  place  where  you  can  sometimes  be  alone." 

"  Do  you  need  that  too  ?  "  said  Jimmy,  with  studied 
indifference. 


140  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

But  he  could  capture  no  more  of  her  confidence.  She 
rose.  "  There  is  father  coming." 

"  Is  he  ?  Then  I  must  go  back  and  cook  supper  for  my 
dad." 

"  What !  no  supper  yet  ?  Do  bring  him  over  here  — 
there  's  plenty  left.  Mother  would  be  so  pleased,"  Barbie 
added  impersonally. 

"  Thank  you  ;  we  manage  pretty  well,  man-fashion.  I  'm 
not  such  a  bad  cook,  you  know.  My  frying-pan  is  going 
down  along  with  your  cocky  little  clothes-pins.  Don't  you 
ever  tell,  but  I  wash  the  parson's  clothes." 

Barbie  laughed,  and  laughed  again.  Her  voice  trem- 
bled :  —  "I  know  it ;  I've  seen  you.  I  've  been  dying  to 
show  you  how.  You  are  a  frightful  washer !  " 

Jimmy  said  "  Good  night,  sir,"  as  Mr.  Hannington  met 
and  passed  him ;  there  was  no  answer.  This  was  so  unlike 
the  kind,  friendly  neighbor  that  Jimmy  stood  still  and 
looked  after  him. 

"He  walks  like  a  drunken  man,"  he  thought.  "He's 
possessed  with  worry  about  something  or  other ;  —  "  Under 
his  breath  lie  added,  "  Shame  upon  it ! " 

Husband  and  wife  conferred  in  whispers. 

"  Think  you  had  n't  better  speak  with  her  to-night  ?  I 
would  n't  put  it  off." 

"  When  does  he  want  to  see  her  —  before  breakfast  ? 
that 's  half-past  five !  Well,  I  guess  I  sha  n't  speak  to  her 
to-night." 

"  I  could  n't  make  objections,"  said  Alvin.  "  Breakfast 
don't  count  with  him;  and  he's  giving  her  every  chance. 
I  can  see  he  's  afraid  of  what 's  before  him.  He 's  afraid  ! 
—  Do  try  and  work  her  up  to  some  sense  of  her  condi- 


THE   SECOND  ADMONITION  141 

tion.  The  way  she  takes  it  seems  to  me  almost  more  of  a 
disgrace  than  the  thing  itself.  Can't  you  make  her  see 
anything  ?  " 

"  I  've  been  trying,  about  a  month ;  but  what 's  the  use ! 
There's  nothing  there  to  work  on.  She's  completely 
taken  up  with  '  him '  and  some  great  future  he 's  planning 
for  her." 

Barbie  came  towards  them,  hesitating ;  her  face  smote 
the  mother  in  its  questing,  resistant  dread.  She  held  out 
her  arms  with  a  rare  gesture.  "  Kiss  me !  "  she  said  as  to 
a  child. 

Barbara  kissed  her  lightly  and  drew  herself  away. 

"  You  must  be  tired  out."  Mrs.  Hannington  hastened 
to  pass  off  her  emotional  excess  as  common,  ordinary 
sympathy.  "  And  here  you  are  sitting  up  till  after  ten 
o'clock!" 

"  Mother,  if  we  don't  have  a  house  bigger  than  a  nut- 
shell '  out  there,'  I  want  you  to  give  me  a  room  to  my- 
self —  if  it 's  on  the  roof." 

"  You  shall !  "  her  mother  cried  incoherently ;  "  we  owe 
it  to  you." 

"  You  don't  owe  me  anything !  I  simply  want  to  make 
it  easier  for  my  own  bad  disposition." 

"  Barbie,  you  never  had  a  bad  disposition !  " 

"  Well,  then  I  've  cultivated  one,  which  is  worse.  It 
will  have  to  be  reckoned  with  one  of  these  days,  but,  just 
now,  —  I  feel  as  if  something  might  break  loose." 

"  Something  will !  "  said  her  mother  darkly.  "  Some- 
thing is  going  to,  before  long." 

Voices  were  heard  in  the  girls'  tent  bright  and  early  on 
Saturday  morning.  Barbie  was  up  and  out,  fetching  in 
her  wash.  It  was  the  mother  speaking  to  Stella. 


142  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  You  better  get  you  dressed  as  quick  as  you  can.  He 
wants  to  talk  to  you,  right  now,  before  we  eat." 

The  girl  shuddered. 

"  Barbie  will  bring  you  some  coffee ;  it 's  all  made  — 
oh,  my  child,  don't  do  that ! "  Mrs.  Hannington  was  dis- 
tracted, watching  Stella  at  her  toilet.  "  Wait,  I  've  got  a 
bit  of  tape  in  my  work-basket." 

"  Did  Uncle  Alvin  tell  him  ?" 

"  Yes,  last  evening.  I  did  n't  want  him  to  so  soon,  but 
it 's  just  as  well  to  have  it  over  with.  He  says  Mr.  Yard- 
ley  is  holding  the  Door  open  to  you ;  he  wants  you  to  re- 
member there 's  forgiveness  to  the  last.  But  it 's  got  to 
be  asked  for.  He  '11  expect  to  see  some  sign  of  a  change 
in  you." 

"  What  sign  does  he  expect  ?  " 

"He  won't  ask  for  any  public  confession ;  I  was  afraid 
of  that.  He  only  wants  to  talk  with  you  alone.  He 's 
braver  to  face  the  truth  than  I  was:  he  won't  put  up 
with  a  wrong-doer  if  he  knows  who  he  is,  and  he  won't 
shirk  the  knowledge." 

"  But  he  knows  —  he  must  know." 

"  He  may  guess,  but  he  '11  have  to  have  it  straight  from 
you.  Such  a  charge  as  that  can't  be  handed  round  on  sus- 
picion." 

"  He  will  never  get  that  name  from  me !  It 's  madness. 
Mr.  Yardley  can't  do  anything  to  him,  but  he  can  drive  him 
to  leave  us  all  in  the  lurch.  He  can  make  him  desert  me." 

"  Why,  of  course  he  '11  expect  to  part  you  if  he  finds 
the  man  is  married.  You  can't  ask  forgiveness  and  go  on 
sinning." 

"  I  have  n't  asked  forgiveness,  yet ;  I  can't,  if  he  won't 
—  if  he  scorns  it,  and  scorns  me  for  asking.  We  are  not 


THE   SECOND  ADMONITION  143 

the  dirt  under  everybody's  feet ;  Mr.  Yardley  need  n't 
stoop  so  low  to  be  merciful." 

"  How  about  the  woman  at  the  Saviour's  feet !  did  He 
stoop  ?  He  spared  her,  but  not  what  she  had  done.  He 
called  it  sin." 

"No  one  called  it  sin  when  I  promised  to  marry  Hor- 
ace, but  I  felt  more  like  dirt  then  than  I  do  now.  I 
wasn't  bought  —  this  time." 

Aunt  Silence's  conscience  may  have  stung  her.  She  re- 
torted :  "  You  were,  only  you  don't  know  it.  You  parted 
with  yourself  for  the  moment's  weakness,  for  just  excite- 
ment ;  it 's  terrible  to  me  to  say  so,  but  I  've  looked  in 
vain  for  that  love  in  you  that  might  excuse  you,  if  it  was 
unselfish.  How  long  would  it  take  you  to  turn  against 
him  if  he  left  you  ?  You  are  counting  on  a  great  time  with 
him  somewhere,  somehow :  that 's  why  you  don't  suffer." 

"  Did  Uncle  Alvin  tell  him  I  can't  go  on  ? "  A  sullen 
hardening  of  the  girl's  face  showed  the  uselessness  of 
words ;  driven  beyond  a  certain  point  she  would  turn  in 
this  way. 

"  I  don't  believe  he  did  because  you  can,  and  you  would, 
if  the  man  you  rely  on  said  so.  Own  up,  now !  would  n't 
you  ?  —  if  he  was  taking  you  to  that  paradise  where  you 
won't  have  to  think  about  anybody  but  yourselves, — 
would  you  say  '  I  can't  go  on  '  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  not ;  but  he  would  make  it  easier  some- 
how." 

"  I  guess  he  can't  move  mountains  nor  give  you  wings 
to  fly  with.  Mrs.  Spaulding  was  full  more  delicate  than 
you  are ;  she  went  over  on  horseback,  eight  —  nine  years 
ago.  And  Mrs.  Whitman,  a  bride,  straight  from  the  altar. 
They  did  it  on  their  own  courage  and  faith  in  God.  — 


144  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

But  that  is  n't  the  question.  It  is  n't  Mr.  Yardley's  part 
to  see  that  you  are  comfortable.  What  did  St.  Paul  say  ? 
'  I  buffet  my  body  and  bring  it  into  bondage '  ?  " 

"  Aunt  Silence,  I  do  love  you ;  you  can  preach  to  me  if 
any  one  can.  If  I  could  n't  give  him  up  for  you,  I  cer- 
tainly won't  for  Mr.  Yardley !  he  can  '  buffet '  me  all  he 
wants.  You  don't  any  of  you  see  how  JIG  was  wronged ! 
Take  any  old  maid  and  let  her  fall  in  love  with  a  young 
man  and  tempt  him  with  her  money  —  what  will  happen  ? 
He  's  the  one  who  was  injured." 

"  He  sold  himself  for  a  price,  and  cheap  at  that !  I 
heard  him  say  myself  there  were  some  people  in  that  vil- 
lage he  wanted  to  surprise.  He  sold  himself  and  now  he 
wants  to  crawl  out  of  it  —  sin  first,  and  then  a  cloak  to 
cover  it ;  the  law  will  be  pretty  set  to  work  making  that 
sort  of  a  marriage  legal !  Now,  that 's  the  last  of  my 
preaching  to  you.  — Here  's  your  coffee." 

The  petticoat-band  was  pieced  and  the  sad  place  Stella 
had  pinned  into  rags,  dragging  it  together,  was  mended 
securely.  Aunt  Silence  rose  and  straightened  up  under 
the  weight  of  mind  and  body.  "  It  makes  no  difference 
between  us :  we  're  bound  together,  humanly  speaking. 
Your  uncle's  folks  are  my  folks  for  this  life.  If  you  should 
think  better  of  these  foolish  things  you  Ve  said,  tell  me  — 
any  time  to-day,  just  a  word.  You  don't  want  to  drive  a 
man  like  Mr.  Yardley  into  a  corner.  He  '11  never  dispute 
with  the  Law.  I  speak  while  I  can.  If  he  deals  with  you 
as  the  minister,  flesh  and  blood  will  have  to  stand  aside." 

Alvin,  starting  to  fetch  Mr.  Yardley,  was  hurriedly 
intercepted  by  his  wife. 

"  You  tell  him,  father,  the  time  is  n't  ripe  for  her.  He 
might  just  as  well  eat  his  breakfast.  I  would  n't  want  he 


THE   SECOND  ADMONITION  145 

should  talk  to  her  the  way  she  is  now  ;  nothing  makes  any 
impression,  and  goodness  knows  I  've  said  enough !  I 
never  talked  to  any  living  being  as  I  have  to  her.  It 
makes  me  think  of  snake-bite :  it 's  all  through  her  sys- 
tem. You  can  burn  the  place  or  you  can  cut  it  out ;  — the 
poison  's  in  her  blood." 


CHAPTEK  XVII 

AN  APOSTOLIC  JUDGMENT 

MR.  YARDLEY'S  sense  of  his  own  impending  duty 
kept  him  silent  like  a  breathless  load.  As  the  day  went  by, 
with  no  better  answer  from  the  subject  of  his  prayers,  he 
steeled  himself  slowly;  he  tried  to  forget  old  friends' 
faces  and  family  scenes  ;  honestly,  fearfully,  in  the  fear  of 
God,  he  isolated  himself  from  man.  Such  was  his  teaching. 

But  when  it  came  to  his  cherished  mission,  the  blow 
went  home.  Good  men  have  their  beast  of  pride  to  reckon 
with.  This  scheme  had  taken  years  to  ripen ;  it  was  the 
fruit  of  self-blame,  his  atonement  for  admitted  cowardice 
in  the  past.  Worse  than  physical  torture  it  was  to  see 
his  dream  so  mutilated  in  the  very  inception.  He  was  not 
taking  bad  men  and  women  into  the  clean  wilderness  to 
reform  them ;  he  was  taking  good  ones  to  exercise  and 
preserve  their  goodness,  alone  with  the  worship  and  the 
works  of  God.  What  had  he  done  that  he  should  be  so 
confounded  ?  His  explanation  partook  of  the  nature  of 
that  hard-ridden  doctrine  of  his  time  that  life  is  one  long 
accounting :  some  sin  of  his  own  in  secret  the  Lord  was  re- 
warding openly.  Herein  was  he  punished,  being  called  to 
punish  another ;  risking  his  future  influence  with  his  flock 
through  their  probable  condemnation  of  the  act.  It  must 
be  faced.  He  had  gone  partners,  influenced  by  cowardice 
of  various  kinds,  with  a  man  he  neither  knew  nor  liked. 
He  should  have  trusted  God  and  walked  forward. 

All  Saturday,  journeying  onward,  he  gazed  at  the  fear- 


AN  APOSTOLIC  JUDGMENT  147 

f  ul  peaks  and  murmured,  "  On  eagles'  wings  —  on  eagles' 
wings  I  bare  you  and  brought  you  unto  myself,"  and  in  the 
words  of  the  mighty  apostle  he  girded  his  loins  anew  : 
"  for  necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  for  it  were  good  for  me 
rather  to  die  than  that  any  man  should  make  my  glorying 
void."  Saturday  night  he  slept  a  few  hours  from  sheer  ex- 
haustion, and  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath  he  faced  his 
people  with  haggard  eyes  but  a  lip  of  priestly  determina- 
tion. When  the  benediction  had  been  said,  he  requested 
that  the  women  retire  with  their  children  to  the  camping- 
spot;  the  men  to  remain  in  session  with  him  alone. 

A  flutter  of  anxiety  agitated  the  little  departing  group. 
There  were  some  who  thought  they  could  guess  what  was 
coming.  Stella  required  help  to  get  away.  Her  uncle,  look- 
ing after  his  women,  saw  with  wrath  the  arm  of  his  daugh- 
ter supporting  her,  while  the  mother  hastened  on  to  spread 
down  a  place  for  her  to  lie.  His  thoughts  at  the  moment 
did  his  Christianity  sad  injustice  :  it  was  very  clear  which 
of  those  two  girls  was  his  own. 

The  little  company  was  encamped  in  mid-valley  near  the 
old  landmark  of  the  Lone  Pine ;  they  had  expected  to 
reach  it  by  noon  of  the  previous  day,  but  darkness  had 
overtaken  them  while  they  were  unsaddling  and  pitching 
their  few  tents.  Morning  now  showed  they  were  but 
halfway  across  the  vast,  featureless  plain.  A  steady  move- 
ment of  air  passing  over  it  unimpeded,  caused  a  murmur 
on  high  in  the  great  tree's  top  like  many  voices  in  unison, 
or  a  dreamy  breaking  of  surf  on  some  far-off,  monotonous 
shore.  Our  sagebushes  of  the  desert,  like  the  sedges,  have 
no  voice  —  "  And  still  they  sing."  For  miles  across  the 
empty  intervale  there  was  a  dry  whispering  in  answer  to 
the  pine. 


148  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  Those  little  children,"  said  the  preacher,  "  who  went 
from  us  just  now,  and  others  who  shall  be  born  to  us  — 
they  will  be  our  pledge,  our  promise  to  the  nation  and  to 
God.  But  they  must  come  of  clean  seed ;  and  no  l  pleas- 
ant vessel,'  no  4  vessel  of  desire  '  shall  hold  the  consecrated 
offering. 

*'  You  may  have  heard  it  whispered —  it  has  been  known 
to  me  only  within  the  last  thirty-six  hours  —  the  nature  of 
the  folly  that  has  been  wrought  amongst  us.  We  are  not 
adventurers  nor  money-seekers,  nor  seekers  of  homes  in 
the  sense  that  we  bring  nothing  to  build  with  more  pre- 
cious than  life  and  wordly  goods.  I  see  the  heads  of  ten 
families  before  me.  Such  a  thing  as  this  I  do  not  believe 
has  been  known  in  one  of  these  families  since  their  ances- 
tors settled  in  America. 

"  Kemember,  brethren,  our  dealing  with  offenders  is 
founded  on  the  apostolic  letters  of  different  young  churches 
of  Christ  according  to  their  individual  needs  and  charac- 
teristics, but  on  this  point  of  keeping  the  membership  pure 
there  is  never  any  variance  nor  the  least  obscurity  :  '  Now, 
we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother 
that  walketh  disorderly.  .  .  .  And  if  any  man  obeyeth 
not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man,  that  ye  have  no 
company  with  him,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  ashamed. 
.  .  .  Put  away  the  wicked  man  from  among  yourselves. 
Ye  shall  put  him  away,  or  her  away  from  among  your- 
selves. .  .  .  Unless  they  shall  repent  and  die  unto  sin  and 
live  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus.'  Observe  the  repetition,  the 
insistence  on  the  words,  *  put  away ' :  the  text  cannot  other- 
wise be  construed  or  softened  or  tampered  with. 

"  Now,  there  are  two  persons  in  this  company  whose 


AN  APOSTOLIC  JUDGMENT  149 

choice,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  investigate,  is  finally  made : 
we  mock  the  Law  and  the  Commandments  in  keeping 
them  with  us.  As  we  are  moving  forward  our  only  means 
of  obeying  the  word  of  the  apostle  is  to  leave  them  behind. 
To  them  who  will  own  no  guide  but  that  of  their  inclina- 
tions, we  leave  the  trackless  wilderness  and  their  free 
choice  of  a  way  to  go. 

"  Does  this  seem  hard  ?  I  can  see  faces  wincing.  Is  there 
any  other  reading  of  the  Word?  Again  and  seven  times 
seven  did  Christ  forgive  the  sinner  —  never  the  sin.  In  this 
case  I  have  not  learned  that  forgiveness  has  been  asked. 
They  have  put  themselves  outside  of  family  discipline,  out- 
side of  church  discipline,  —  there  is  no  community  to  re- 
ceive them  condoning  or  otherwise :  there  remains  God 
'  who  judgeth  them  that  are  without.' 

"  Our  situation  takes  us  back  to  those  days  when  men 
lived  as  we  are  living,  in  tents  of  the  wilderness,  as  one 
family,  with  no  law  but  the  word  of  Jehovah  and  with  no 
administrators  but  his  priests.  I  am  but  a  rod  of  Aaron, 
a  tool  of  the  just  God.  The  winnower  of  souls  does  not  go 
about  the  matter  with  softness  and  relenting.  Blows  shall 
resound  upon  the  threshing-floor  where  the  good  grain  is 
sorted  and  vanity  swept  away. 

"  The  woman  I  shall  name  but  once.  Nature  takes  care 
the  woman  shall  not  escape  ;  she  cannot  hide  her  sin.  It 
is  the  man  I  want.  I  call  on  the  betrayer  of  Estella  Mutrie 
to  step  out  here  before  us  and  take  his  share  in  this  sen- 
tence and  help  her  to  bear  the  punishment  he  has  brought 
upon  her ;  which  might  seem  in  our  sister's  case  extreme 
but  for  those  vital  consequences  you  know  of  yourselves. 
You  are  family  men:  the  children  that  grow  up  among  us 
your  children  will  marry. 


150  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"Those  who  took  the  responsibility  of  bringing  her, 
did  so,  knowing  the  absolute  terms  of  the  contract  which 
governs  us  in  our  departure  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
law.  They  have  placed  the  matter  in  my  hands,  as  in  duty 
bound.  I  can  see  my  duty  no  otherwise  than  as  I  have 
stated.  Now,  son  of  Adam,  come  and  take  this  daughter 
of  Eve  for  thy  companion.  May  the  toils  and  tribulations 
of  the  way  before  you  be  counted  to  you  for  righteousness. 
It  is  not  in  man,  as  some  claim,  to  give  you  absolution, 
but  you  know  where  it  is  to  be  found ;  and  I  think  you 
are  on  the  best  of  all  roads  to  meet  it." 

No  son  of  Adam  answered:  a  long  silence  followed, — 
on  the  minister's  part  of  prayer.  The  tension  continued 
till  you  heard  men  breathe.  At  length  Mr.  Yardley  raised 
his  head  and  studied  the  faces  before  him. 

"  Is  it  possible  ? —  is  it  possible  !  I  had  thought  we 
were  at  the  bottom  of  this  pit  of  infamy  —  a  company 
such  as  this.  Must  we  be  cowards  and  liars,  too  ? 

"  So,  the  affirmative  fails ; "  after  a  second,  deeper  si- 
lence, he  resumed.  "  We  shall  have  to  fall  back,  then,  on  the 
plan  of  elimination.  If  the  sinner  has  not  nerve  to  stand 
upon  his  feet,  he  may  be  able  to  sit  still  in  his  place.  Let 
every  man  present  who  can  answer  to  God  for  the  secrets 
of  his  heart  leave  this  meeting,  not  looking  behind  him 
for  the  next  man." 

And  still  no  one  moved.  Deacon  Hannington,  gray- 
faced  and  trembling,  came  and  took  the  minister  by  the 
arm.  "  You  better  sit  down,  sir.  This  is  too  much  for 

you." 

He  helped  him  to  a  seat  on  the  ground  and  walked 
away  to  join  his  wretched  women-folk. 

Captain  Bradburn  rose  next  to  leave  the  group ;  passed 


AN  APOSTOLIC  JUDGMENT  151 

close  to  Mr.  Yardley,  making  some  remark,  smiled,  and 
went  on.  He  joined  no  one  and  no  one  questioned  him. 
What  he  had  said  was :  "  Raising  the  Devil's  great  sport, 
sir,  ain't  it,  provided  the  rascal  does  n't  come !  "  The  min- 
ister gave  no  sign.  Steps  went  by  him  singly  or  in  pairs. 
One  or  two  of  the  younger  men  lingered  speculating  why 
Jimmy  Yardley  should  still  be  there;  then,  afraid  they 
might  be  left  themselves,  hastened  away. 

The  husbands  who  returned  to  camp  were  questioned 
by  their  women  eagerly,  but  all  eyes  centred  on  the  two 
left  alone  at  the  foot  of  the  tree. 

"  Oh,  look  there  !  "  Aunt  Silence  cried  in  heart-broken 
whispers.  "  Jimmy  Yardley !  he  's  taken  that  villain's 
place ! " 

"  What  for  ? "  said  Alvin ;  he  was  terribly  excited. 
"  He 's  no  business  to.  It 's  a  wrong  thing  to  do." 

"  Well,  I  don't  care  !  I  feel  as  if  I  'd  like  to  go  and  kiss 
that  boy  and  I  'm  half  a  mind  to  do  it,  before  everybody. 
'T  will  show  we  understand." 

"  Mother,  will  you  leave  them  alone  !  "  Barbie  uttered 
wildly.  "  He  is  n't  doing  it  for  us ;  he 's  doing  it  for  her." 

Stella  lay  quiet  under  her  blinding  canvas,  and  guessed 
her  fate  in  snatches :  some  form  of  discipline  was  coming 
which  staggered  "  even  them."  Bradburn  had  saved  him- 
self and  his  schemes,  and  Jimmie  stood  her  friend;  in 
some  sort  he  was  her  champion,  before  them  all,  —  and 
Barbie  knew  why!  "Now  I  hope  they  are  satisfied! " 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


JIMMY  had  drawn  close  to  his  father's  knees,  planting 
himself  opposite  on  the  ground.  The  minister's  face  was 
hidden  while  he  strove  with  the  spirit  of  prayer :  it  was 
denied  him ;  he  could  not  bind  his  thoughts  into  words. 
He  believed  himself  alone  and  it  startled  him,  through 
the  beating  in  his  ears,  to  hear  his  son's  voice  speaking 
with  forced  naturalness :  — 

"  We  seem  to  be  the  only  ones  left,  father.  Excuse  my 
staying  ;  I  hope  I  have  n't  frightened  you  ?  No  one  seemed 
inclined  to  sit  me  out." 

His  father  looked  at  him  searchingly,  but  without  con- 
viction of  the  worst.  "  I  can't  suppose  you  are  here  for 
any  reason.  .  .  .  Have  you  anything  to  say  to  me  ?  " 

"  No,  sir :  I  thought  it  looked  rather  lonely  in  the  judg- 
ment seat."  There  was  no  comment.  "  Could  n't  you  remit 
—  something,  now  it 's  only  the  woman  ?  " 

"  She  can't  be  one  of  us  with  my  consent." 

"  Consent !  "  echoed  Jimmy,  recalling  his  father's  ser- 
mon. "  But  she  is  one  of  us.  Her  trouble  began  right  here 
in  our  midst.  I  don't  think  you  '11  find  the  men  of  this 
company  will  stand  by  and  see  her  punished  alone." 

"  That  is  what  her  betrayer  is  saying  to  himself  now. 
He  laughs  in  his  sleeve." 

"  Let  him  laugh !  We  will  use  him  for  his  price.  We 
have  paid  for  him,  Lord  knows  !  " 


THE  PARSON'S  SON  153 

"  What  are  you  talking  about  ?  "  the  minister  demanded. 
"  Is  this  expediency,  or  mercy  ?  " 

"  Both,"  said  Jimmy.  "  You  can't  cast  her  out  alone  — 
if  that  is  mercy !  " 

"  If  you  stand  between  her  and  the  Law,  you  make  your- 
selves a  fence  for  him.  I  certainly  expect  to  raise  the  issue 
to  the  point  of  punishment  for  her :  then  we  shall  see  if 
the  traitor  be  human.  The  rest  is  God's." 

"  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  not  try  that !  It  will  break  up  the 
company.  Before  the  words  are  out  of  your  mouth  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  will  be  up  against  you." 

"  My  influence  is  blasted  if  I  let  that  scoffer  foil  me 
now.  I  have  no  evidence  to  accuse  him  and  no  power  over 
him,  except  through  her.  You  know  the  man  I  mean  ! " 

"  I  do,  and  we  need  him.  Suppose  he  is  human,  and  you 
force  him  out?  where  are  we?  Consider  the  lives  under 
your  care,  sir !  I  would  not  say  to  that  worker  of  iniquity, 
'Depart  from  me,'  till  this  company  is  over  the  Blue 
Mountains." 

"  Then  you  would  be  a  moral  coward,  Jimmy.  In  mat- 
ters of  duty  we  must  leave  the  consequences  to  God.  Do 
what  the  Law  compels  and  trust  Him  for  the  event." 

"  Well,  father ;  you  did  not  trust  Him  entirely  on  this 
journey.  You  took  the  road  of  duty,  but  you  hired  that 
man  to  pilot  us  over  the  physical  difficulties." 

"  There  was  my  false  step !  My  responsibility  for  others 
weakened  me,  and  this  is  the  punishment ;  this  monstrous 
thing  I  am  forced  to  do." 

"  It  is  monstrous :  it 's  '  cruel  and  unusual.'  It  seems 
to  me  one  of  those  things  that  can't  be  done  by  men  in 
their  —  " 

Jimmy  paused  at  "  right  mind,"  but  his  father's  heated 


154  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

face  showed  lie  had  been  able  to  finish  the  sentence  for 
himself :  it  did  not  tend  towards  harmony  at  that  tortured 
moment,  with  all  eyes  upon  them. 

u  It  has  been  done,"  the  judge  pronounced.  "  I  shall 
not  revoke  that  sentence  under  the  Law.  Am  I  any  wiser 
or  more  charitable  than  God's  greatest  apostle  ?  " 

"  You  have  not  looked  at  it  in  detail  —  " 

"  Have  n't  I  ?  I  've  been  on  my  knees  over  it  for  every 
hour  since  I  have  known.  Leave  me,  now,  to  work  it  out. 
I  need  to  think." 

"  Excuse  me  if  I  say  I  don't  think  you  are  able :  this 
has  grown  so  in  your  eyes  it  blots  out  everything  else.  It 's 
ridiculous,  for  instance,  to  talk  of  common  humanity  blast- 
ing your  reputation  with  sensible  men  who  can  see  the 
situation  you  are  in." 

"  Go  away,  Jimmy ;  you  work  at  the  wrong  end :  expedi- 
ency, consequences  —  what  have  I  to  do  with  those  ?  I  am 
the  Law  and  the  Commandments  here,  or  I  am  nothing." 

"  Then  I  plant  myself,  before  everybody,  as  the  one  who 
must  stay  with  her ;  not  because  I  am  the  man,  but  be- 
cause I  am  your  son  :  that 's  your  compensation  for  work- 
ing out  your  law.  You  shall  not  sacrifice  all  the  others  to 
reach  that  one  villain  —  who  is  useful,  as  God  made  him. 
I  say  you  were  perfectly  right  to  hire  him.  Has  he  hurt 
any  one  who  was  sound  ?  Evil  finds  evil,  and  you  can  thank 
him  for  testing  her.  When  he  goes,  she  '11  go  with  him ; 
that  is  her  law." 

"  Jimmy,  you  are  mocking  !  " 

"  Well,  you  drive  me  to  it,  sir  !  You  go  so  far  the  other 
way,  —  I  have  to  range  myself  with  common  sense." 

There  was  a  deadly  silence.  The  parson's  face  showed 
grim  agony. 


THE  PARSON'S   SON  155 

44  Are  you  trying  to  force  me  out  of  my  duty,  Jimmy  ? 
You  can  wrench  my  heart,  but  I  will  not  recede,  even  to 
spare  my  own  son." 

"  I  don't  ask  you  to  spare  me  —  and  I  don't  want  to 
frighten  you  :  it 's  no  great  thing  to  go  back  the  way  we 
came.  I  know  that  road  ;  none  of  us  know  the  road  ahead. 
We  may  meet  snow ;  we  don't  know  what  may  happen. 
This  is  the  crucial  part,  and  with  him  behind  us !  —  He 
may  stir  up  the  Indians." 

"  Cowardice  and  no  faith !  Take  your  place  beside  her, 
then,  if  you  wish  to  be  the  sacrifice.  What  will  you  do 
with  her?" 

"  Take  her  back  to  Fort  Hall.  She  '11  have  Christian 
treatment  there  !  Captain  Grant  is  a  good  man.  I  will 
follow  you  out  when  I  can  —  with  the  next  train,  I  sup- 
pose :  I  may  have  to  wait  over  till  spring." 

Another  silence  of  wretchedness  and  obstinacy  on  both 
sides.  The  minister  gazed  into  the  young  face  that  con- 
fronted him ;  Jimmy  met  his  eyes ;  his  own  were  not  so 
hard  but  a  mist  stole  into  them  as  he  pondered  the  conse- 
quences to  his  own  half-born  hopes.  He  would  have  liked 
to  say  to  his  father  that  he  ought  to  thank  the  smiling 
villain,  out  of  reach,  for  his  son's  final  cure :  the  shock 
that  scattered  those  flattering  little  theories  that  Stella 
was  leaning  to  the  better  side  through  his  influence  at 
last,  with  all  her  bewildering  charm  intensified  by  an  un- 
explained sadness.  There  was  abundant  mockery  for  him- 
self in  his  sick  heart,  when  he  thought  of  some  of  their 
rides  together,  and  what  that  soul  sadness  really  hid. 

"  Your  mind  is  made  up  on  this  alternative  ?  " 

"  Quite,  sir." 

"  Then  I  see  no  way  but  for  us  both  to  go  through  with 


156  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

it ;  unless  I  ask  those  who  brought  her  with  them  to  take 
her  and  leave,  themselves.  I  gather  from  Mr.  Hanning- 
ton  that  he  and  his  wife  hold  somewhat  different  views, 
but  their  pride  would  unite  them  if  I  gave  the  least  hint 
that  such  a  course  was  expected." 

"  I  hope  you  will  spare  them  that !  "  said  Jimmy,  winc- 
ing. "  Let  us  call  it  finished." 

He  sat  and  considered  his  own  part  in  this  appalling 
situation,  and  his  father's  bowels  yearned  over  him. 

"You  must  understand,  son,  I  cannot  take  back  the 
sentence  now  that  you  are  the  one  to  share  it.  It  was 
wrung  from  me :  Stella  with  a  broken,  contrite  heart 
would  be  the  lamb  our  Saviour  carried  in  his  breast,  but 
Stella,  as  she  is,  were  a  secret  door  to  sin." 

"  I  see,  father :  you  overwhelm  me,  but  I  quite  see 
where  the  courage  of  the  judge  comes  in.  —  Granting 
your  reading  of  the  Law,  no  woman  like  her  has  any  case, 
to  be  sure.  It 's  a  pity  she  has  no  counsel." 

"  Jesus  is  her  counsel,  but  she  has  refused  Him,  over 
and  over." 

"  Do  you  think  it  will  be  understood  that  I  am  not  the 
man  you  asked  for  ?  I  'm  willing  to  take  his  job,  but  I 
don't  covet  his  character  exactly.  You  must  see  to  that, 
father." 

"  It  shall  be  seen  to.  I  will  tell  the  Hanningtons 
myself." 

Jimmy's  eyes  contracted :  "  I  was  n't  thinking  of  them  ; 
if  they  have  to  be  told,  I  may  as  well  go  and  shoot  myself." 

"  Why  have  you  done  this,  son  ?  Do  you  —  God  help 
us  —  do  you  love  that  girl  ?  " 

"  Not  more  than  you  do,  father.  I  had  no  idea  of  stay- 
ing till  —  Brad  burn  —  went  away." 


THE  PARSON'S   SON  157 

"  Were  you  quite  unprepared  for  the  facts  as  I  stated 
them?" 

"  No ;  but,  yes,  I  was  —  for  the  fact.  Though  I  have 
known  for  some  time  she  is  untruthful." 

"  Do  you  know  anything  else  ?  " 

"  Nothing  I  could  name  except  on  suspicion  ;  but  there 
is  a  man  around  here  the  Lord  must  be  looking  for." 

"  He  will  find  him.  How  was  it  with  them  who  tempted 
His  wrath  in  that  other  desert  ?  —  He  '  gave  them  their 
desire ' ;  '  but  sent  leanness  into  their  souls.'  That  man 
in  our  midst  I  alone  am  responsible  for ;  and  this,  I  repeat, 
is  my  punishment.  It  takes  my  very  all  to  meet  it.  But 
have  faith  in  your  own  action,  Jimmy ;  unconsidered  as 
you  say  it  was,  I  do  not  doubt  it  has  been  laid  upon  you, 
even  as  my  part  is  laid  on  me.  Would  to  God  I  were  in 
your  place !  "  Again  for  an  instant  the  minister's  features 
betrayed  his  lonely  anguish. 

"  Now,  I  want  to  ask  you  —  this  may  be  our  last  pri- 
vate moment ;  are  you  free  to  give  your  life  for  this 
woman,  if  it  should  come  to  that?" 

"  How  do  you  mean,  am  I  '  free  '  ?  " 

"  As  you  said  you  were  once ;  don't  you  remember  our 
talk  —  when  I  hesitated  to  include  you  in  the  offer  of  my 
own  services  and  life  to  the  work  out  here  ?  " 

"  I  am  free  in  that  way  still,  father,  and  no  more  to  be 
congratulated  on  my  freedom  :  there  is  no  one  who  cares 
for  my  life  half  as  much  as  we  do.  I  think  we  can  settle 
the  disposal  of  it  between  ourselves.  But  it  is  n't  going  to 
be  given  away.  Now,  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  'm  most  afraid 
of  —  sleeping  on  watch.  But  if  Stella  wants  to  save  me 
up  for  my  work,  she  '11  take  a  dog-watch  now  and  then 
herself."  —  "  She  '11  not  do  anything  of  the  kind,"  was 


158  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Jimmy's  reflection.  "  She  will  wear  a  man  out  as  she 
wears  out  a  horse,  because  she  never  thinks." 

"  You  will  have  to  make  haste  with  your  preparations : 
we  must  move  on  to-morrow." 

Mr.  Yardley  took  his  son's  warm  hand  in  his  that  was 
stone  cold.  Jimmy  added  his  other  hand  and  they  held 
each  other  so  an  instant,  eyes  meeting  shrink ingly. 

"  You  will  consult  Deacon  Hannington  as  to  your  direc- 
tion and  learn  his  wishes  in  other  respects ;  you  cannot 
be  called  on  to  extend  your  protection  beyond  some  point 
of  safety  where  she  may  be  sent  for  later.  But  if  you  are 
detained  there,  you  will  not,  Jimmy,  let  yourself  be  drawn 
into  the  web  she  seems  to  weave  around  every  one  who  is 
long  in  her  company  ?  " 

"  She  does  nothing  deliberate,  father ;  she  's  a  test.  The 
condition  is  in  yourself.  She  has  been  through  my  system 
pretty  thoroughly.  One  must  n't  brag,  but  I  think  I  'm 
immune,  for  a  while." 

"  Well,  I  hope  she  may  discover  no  weakness  in  you  out 
of  proportion  to  the  strength  you  will  require.  It  is  an 
ordeal  for  you  both." 

"  You  can't  make  too  much  of  her  part,  but  you  easily 
can  of  mine.  Don't  be  downhearted :  I  've  learned  a  lot 
on  this  trip.  You  would  n't  want  me,  would  you,  to  back 
out  now,  after  planting  myself  before  witnesses  ?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  raised  a  warning  hand.  That  question  was 
finished :  he  begged  for  mercy.  "  Have  you  any  messages 
or  farewells  I  could  deliver  for  you  at  some  better  time  ? 
Our  poor  friends  will  hardly  want  to  see  any  one  to-day ; 
they  have  much  to  think  about.  I  know  nothing  of  how 
Mrs.  Hannington  will  take  my  action.  Promises  are  one 
thing,  but  nature  will  assert  itself.  I  could  not  blame  her 


THE   PARSON'S   SON  159 

if  she  felt  quite  hard  towards  me ;  but  you  they  must  be 
drawn  to,  in  gratitude  for  what  you  do." 

"  D — n  gratitude  !  Do  I  want  any  one's  gratitude  ?  You 
know  how  I  feel  about  that  family.  If  there  is  any  one  I 
do  this  for  it  is  Aunt  Silence  —  tell  her  so,  father,  with 
my  love." 

" — And  Barbara?  Is  there  no  word  for  her  in  such  a 
time  as  this  ?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  braced  himself  for  the  rebuff  he  openly 
was  courting ;  being  ready  for  it,  it  did  not  come.  Jimmy 
hesitated ;  his  father's  pale  blue  eyes  filmed  and  quiv- 
ered. The  boy  had  sprung  to  his  feet;  now  he  waited  — 
relenting,  sat  down  and  spoke  softly,  deliberately  opening 
the  last  seal  of  confidence  between  them. 

"  Father,  let  me  tell  you  something :  Barbie  and  I  did 
care  a  good  deal  for  each  other  once.  —  /cared  ;  and  she 
left  me  free,  though  I  think  she  must  have  despised  me 
ever  since.  I  cheated  her  out  of  a  question  that  was  her 
right,  after  some  other  things  that  passed  between  us.  My 
head  got  running  011  Stella ;  the  question  could  n't  be 
asked  then.  Would  it  be  fair  to  the  straightest  girl  that 
ever  lived  to  ask  it  now  ?  And  suppose  I  got  the  '  no '  I 
deserve,  —  would  that  strengthen  me  any  ?  I  '11  keep  my 
fighting  chance,  and  she  shall  keep  her  freedom." 

"Well,  well,  well ! "  said  Mr.  Yardley. 

"  Now  you  see  why  I  am  liable  to  forget  your  cloth,  sir, 
when  you  talk  about  that  family's  gratitude  to  me.  Aunt 
Silence  remembers  when  that  began,  between  Barbie  and 
your  son,  and  I  guess  she  knew  how  it  ended.  There  has 
never  been  the  least  change  in  her  manner.  And  Barbie 
has  scorned  me  and  kept  still —  Oh,  good  God!  "said 
Jimmy  below  his  breath.  If  he  could  have  but  one  last 


160  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

word  with  her,  for  there  had  been  moments  when  he  was 
not  so  sure  about  that  scorn.  Last  night,  when  she  had 
looked  up  at  him,  so  tired,  so  gentle,  so  young  and  worn ! 

"  Well,  I  should  n't  have  spared  you,  son,  if  I  had  known 
what  you  tell  me  now ;  but  I  might  have  wanted  to  spare 
Barbara  seeing  much  more  of  you." 

"  Then  don't  make  a  martyr  of  me,  dad.  You  see  where 
I  come  in :  I  wanted  Stella,  —  now  I  have  got  her  —  tied 
to  my  neck.  I  don't  believe  there's  so  much  danger, 
but,  father,  it 's  a  loathsome  job.  You  take  care  of  my  little 
chance  here,  won't  you  ?  You  love  her.  Be  good  to  her  — 
and  all  of  them.  They  will  help  you  to  bear  what 's  coming 
to  you ;  but  not  through  your  fault !  —  that  is  a  mania,  sir. 
You  took  the  man  to  insure  our  lives." 

"  I  know  what  I  took  him  for :  I  wanted  him.  The  Word 
of  God  is  a  two-edged  sword,  Jimmy,  — '  sharper  than  any 
two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul 
and  spirit.  And  there  is  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest 
in  His  sight.'  Your  father  has  been  in  all  points  tempted 
like  other  men.  This  is  my  bitter  hour.  Go  now,  son :  I 
cannot  say,  though  you  are  my  son,  that  you  have  not 
done  well.'* 


CHAPTER  XIX 

MUTINY 

IT  had  been  their  rule  of  necessity  to  travel  on  the  Sab- 
bath, but  no  order  was  given  that  day  for  the  caravan  to 
start.  There  was  little  discussion,  however ;  a  dazed  won- 
der occupied  those  astonished  ininds,  slow  to  decide  for 
themselves,  slower  still  to  act  in  concert,  that  conned  the 
minister's  judgment.  Nothing  could  surprise  them  now. 
They  waited,  but  a  slow  heat  of  remonstrance  was  stirring 
in  a  few  of  the  more  liberal  intelligences. 

"  I  am  ready  to  talk  over  the  route  with  you,  any  time : " 
Bradburn  addressed  Jimmy,  who  looked  past  him  and 
asked,  "  Which  route  ?" 

"  Yours."  The  captain  raised  his  voice  ;  —  "  and  the 
places  where  you  stop.  There  is  a  new  supply  station  at 
Jim  Bridger's,  on  Black  Fork.  He  's  building  a  fort  there ; 
it  may  not  be  finished  yet,  but  he  can  make  you  pretty 
comfortable.  You  don't  want  to  take  her  to  Fort  Hall." 

"  Bridger's,"  said  Jimmy  curtly,  "  must  be  fifty  miles 
out  of  our  way." 

"  You  seem  to  forget  who  is  captain  of  the  road  on  this 
march." 

"  We  are  marching  by  ourselves.  I  thought  that  was 
understood." 

Bradburn  swore :  the  "  we  "  — "  our  "  sent  a  wicked  flame 
into  his  face.  "It's  d — d  well  understood  that  you're 
the  spoiled  child  of  the  company.  Until  you  learn  to  take 
orders,  Yardley,  you  are  not  fit  to  give  them." 


162  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  If  you  mean  your  orders.  Captain  Bradburn,  how  can 
I  take  them  when  you  turn  your  back  on  us  to-morrow 
morning  ?  " 

"  You  can  take  them  to-day,"  said  Bradburn.  "  You 
need  money,  you  know.  I  can't  spare  you  much  now,  but 
you  go  to  Bridger :  tell  him  who  you  come  from.  He  '11 
give  you  anything  he  's  got,  and  charge  it  up  to  me.  You 
must  get  fresh  horses  and  more  men  and  a  wagon  or  a  cart, 
if  you  expect  to  make  Laramie.  I  would  n't  try  it,  though  ; 
let  her  stop  at  Bridger's.  He  '11  do  everything  he  can  for 
her  and  he  knows  how.  When  I  Ve  got  this  party  through 
and  finished  up  some  contracts,  I  shall  be  able  to  send  in 
for  her.  She  will  know  her  own  mind  by  then." 

Bradburn  finished  without  interruption  ;  there  was  no 
reply.  "  Whose  authority  are  you  acting  under,  anyhow?  " 
he  blustered. 

"  None  that  makes  me  accountable  to  you.  We  take  a 
plain  road  we  've  been  over,  and  all  the  points  you  men- 
tion have  been  thought  of." 

"  Why  do  you  go  for  instructions  to  persons  it  is  my 
business  to  lead  ?  I  don't  offer  you  spiritual  advice  or  tell 
you  when  to  cut  your  hair,  but  I  do  know  something  about 
roads  and  men  in  this  country,  and  supply  stations,  —  and 
Indians.  You  '11  meet  no  bad  Indians  if  you  go  by  Black's 
Fork ;  but  if  you  try  to  make  Laramie,  you  '11  cross  the 
Pawnee  Trail.  Do  you  know  what  that  means  ?  These 
are  considerations  I  should  think  you  might  afford  to 
listen  to." 

There  was  quite  enough  in  Bradburn's  argument  to 
make  it  irritating.  Jimmy  did  listen ;  he  also  replied.  "  If 
you  had  wished  to  conduct  this  detail  yourself,  Captain 
Bradburn,  the  chance  was  open  to  you." 


MUTINY  163 


"  I  wish  you  could  conduct  —  a  conversation,  so  as  not 
to  insult  the  man  you  are  talking  to !  Does  it  hurt  you  any 
if  I  offer  you  assistance,  for  some  one  else  ?  —  Is  it  any  of 
your  business  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,  if  I  don't  accept  it." 

"  D — n  it !  If  you  fool  with  this  job  I  may  take  it  my- 
self. Such  a  Pathfinder  as  you  ought  not  to  be  wasted  on 
a  home  trail.  You  ought  to  pilot  the  train  through  the 
mountains." 

Bradburn  walked  away,  leaving  Jimmy  chuckling 
fiercely  ;  —  he  believed  he  had  been  talking  to  a  ghastly 
hypocrite  who  had  done  all  the  harm  in  his  power  to  Stella 
and  her  friends.  For  himself,  —  he  never  expected  to  meet 
the  man  again. 

Bradburn  had  often  teased  Stella  about  the  young  New 
Englander's  passion  for  her,  which  he  kept  on  ice.  They 
had  laughed  at  the  boy's  struggles.  He  did  not  laugh  at 
him  now. 

Mrs.  Hannington  could  scarcely  believe  her  ears  when 
Bradburn,  visiting  their  quarter  of  the  camp  that  even- 
ing, asked  to  see  Miss  Mutrie,  adding  that  he  wished  to 
bid  her  good-bye. 

Alvin  rose  up  and  walked  away.  He  was  fifty-four : 
prudence  was  the  governing  principle  with  him,  un- 
less he  became  excited.  He  had  had  excitement  enough 
for  one  day;  it  would  be  safer  to  leave  the  man  to 
Silence. 

Poor  Mrs.  Hannington's  knees  sank  under  her,  but  she 
remembered  prudence,  too.  They  had  been  and  were  still 
"  at  their  wits'  end  "  about  money ;  Mr.  Yardley  had  in- 
deed come  to  their  relief,  in  a  brief  and  painful  scene  over 


164  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

the  question  of  providing  for  Stella's  enforced  journey. 
They  could  not  unload  her  on  Jimmy :  —  Aunt  Silence 
did  not  share  Barbara's  theory  of  his  exalted  love  resisting 
knowledge  ;  she  thought  she  had  seen  that  Jimmy's  eyes 
were  open.  Barbie  might  have  seen,  too,  except  for  a 
habit  she  had  cultivated  of  never  seeing  him  at  all. —  Now, 
if  they  were  to  cut  her  off  from  this  scoundrel  renegade, 
who  owed  her  his  protection  in  material  ways,  at  least, 
how  was  Alvin  to  repudiate  her  !  He  would  have  her  on 
his  hands  indefinitely  and  hopelessly  at  long  range  ;  there 
would  be,  as  the  poor  woman  said,  "  no  end  to  it ! "  Her 
shielding  of  the  girl  did  not  profess  to  be  pure  altruism  ; 
she  had  thought  of  her  own  child ;  she  was  thinking  now 
of  her  tried,  hampered  husband,  of  the  disgrace  they  could 
never  get  over,  of  the  endless  drag  upon  their  lives.  Ac- 
cepting her  errand  stoically  as  part  of  the  unspeakable 
whole,  she  rose  and  said  she  would  ask  if  Stella  felt  like 
seeing  any  one. 

Barbie  was  seated  sewing  and  Stella  lay  with  her 
face  turned  aside ;  the  sun  striking  through  the  canvas 
wagon-sheet  made  a  ground -glass  effect  of  glaring  shel- 
ter over  them.  Barbie  worked  fast  in  silence  finishing 
some  garment  to  be  packed  that  night  for  the  dreadful 
journey. 

"  Take  your  work  outside  a  minute,"  her  mother  whis- 
pered hoarsely.  —  "  Not  that  way !  "  she  would  not  have 
had  Barbara  see  who  was  their  visitor.  The  girl  looked 
back  though  and  saw  him,  and  walked  away  stunned. 

"  She  says  she  'd  like  to  be  excused."  Aunt  Silence 
delivered  her  niece's  answer. 

Bradburn  stood  puzzled.  "  Does  she  know  who  it  is  ?  " 

"  I  told  her." 


MUTINY  165 


"  Tell  her  not  to  be  afraid.  We  cannot  have  secrets 
from  you,  Mrs.  Hannington." 

Aunt  Silence  flamed  back,  "  Well,  I  don't  thank  you 
for  your  confidence." 

"  Surely  you  know  why  she  must  see  me !  " 

"I  found  out  her  trouble  by  myself.  The  name  she 
did  not  want  to  tell  me,  I  did  n't  want  to  know  —  and  I 
never  asked." 

"  But  you  do  know.  Does  your  husband  know?  " 

"  Mr.  Hannington  does  not  know  it  from  me." 

"  You  have  never  discussed  me  with  him  by  name  ?  — 
You  New  Englanders  are  a  singular  people." 

She  became  stony. 

"  Will  you  take  a  message  from  me  to  your  niece, 
madam?" 

"  I  'd  rather  not." 

"  Will  you  carry  a  letter  to  her,  then  ?  " 

"  If  it  is  sealed." 

Bradburn  sneered.  "Are  you  afraid  you  might  be 
tempted  to  look  inside  ?  I  am  not." 

"  If  you  don't  understand,  Captain  Bradburn,  why  I 
won't  carry  an  open  letter  from  you  to  Stella  Mutrie, 
'twould  be  a  waste  for  me  to  tell  you." 

"  No  l  kindness  of  Mrs.  Hannington '  in  the  case,  I 
suppose  ! " 

"Not  in  your  case.  If  it  was  anything  important  to 
Stella,  I  might  not  stand  in  the  way." 

"  You  don't  call  it  important  that  I  should  put  myself 
right  with  her,  after  this  morning  !  " 

"  You  had  the  chance  then  to  put  yourself  as  right  with 
her  as  you  can.  You  don't  risk  much  talking  to  her  or  to 
me,  now." 


166  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  The  question  this  morning,  of  risk,  concerned  your 
company  rather  than  ourselves.  I  would  sooner,  as  to 
safety,  take  my  chance  going  back  alone  with  her  than 
ahead  with  this  party  and  your  minister  as  guide.  But  I 
won't  detain  you.  I  will  write  to  your  niece,  and  seal  the 
letter.  There  will  be  a  small  packet  inside  ;  something 
she  ought  not  to  travel  without." 

"  Medicine  ?  " 

"  —  For  snake  bite,"  said  Bradburn  soberly.  He  looked 
at  her  with  his  black  impenetrable  eyes. 

"  Very  well,  I  will  deliver  it." 

"  Did  she  send  me  no  message  at  all  ?  " 

"Just  now,  you  mean?"  Mrs.  Hannington  paused, 
after  his  "  Yes,  when  you  left  her." 

"  Well ;  she  did  say  something  I  was  to  tell  you.  I 
thought,  perhaps,  I  'd  better  not." 

"  Was  n't  that  rather  too  much  responsibility  for  a  lady 
so  anxious  to  wash  her  hands  of  our  affairs  ?  " 

"  Maybe  it  was.  You  think  you  want  to  hear  it  ?  " 

"  Most  certainly." 

"  These  were  her  words,  then>  if  I  recollect :  she  said, 
'  If  anybody  cares  to  hear  him  talk  they  are  welcome.  / 
will  never  believe  a  word  he  says  to  me  again.'  I  did  n't 
tell  you  because  I  thought  it  sounded  —  peevish.  She  's  a 
child,  about  half  the  time.  —  But  then,  she  is  n't !  " 

"  Does  she  seem  to  take  it  very  hard  ?  " 

Silence  looked  at  him  a  moment.  He  was  a  man  whose 
effrontery  beat  down  the  common  barriers  of  speech ;  he 
could  not  feel  a  rebuff,  and  compelled  from  others  the 
familiarity  he  forced  upon  all  whom  he  addressed.  Aunt 
Silence  surprised  herself  by  answering  him. 

"  I  can't  tell  you  how  she  takes  it,  and  I  don't  see  how 


MUTINY  167 


you  can  ask.  But  I  don't  know  anything  about  such  peo- 
ple as  she  and  you  are." 

"  That  is  evident,"  said  Bradburn ;  "  and,  looking  at  it 
from  our  side,  your  twisting  and  torturing  and  cramping 
of  nature,  for  the  sake  of  living  according  to  a  recipe  made 
by  men  who  were  half  mad  on  one  or  two  questions  a  thou- 
sand years  ago,  is  a  mystery  to  us.  Such  a  scene  as  we  had 
this  morning,  some  of  the  greatest  philosophers  —  men 
who  have  changed  our  whole  conception  of  the  universe  — 
would  be  unable  to  comprehend.  It  would  look  as  mon- 
strous to  —  Benjamin  Franklin,  for  instance,  as  stoning 
a  woman  to  death  or  throwing  her  over  the  wall  would 
look  to  you." 

"  You  are  a  terrible  man  ;  but  you,  and  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, have  hurt  that  poor  girl  about  all  you  are  ever  going 
to,  I  guess." 

"  You  seemed  to  be  having  a  stormy  time  of  it,"  Alvin 
speculated  anxiously  as  he  rejoined  his  better  half. 

"  I  gave  him  to  understand  what  we  think  of  him  —  but, 
there !  I  'm  doing  just  what  he  asked  me  to.  He  's  a  ter- 
rible man,"  she  repeated.  "  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  heard 
any  one  talk  as  he  does.  —  If  he  's  been  talking  that  way 
to  Stella  I  don't  wonder  much  she  can't  tell  black  from 
white." 

"  The  trouble  with  Stella  is  she  would  n't  care  if  she 
could :  she  '11  do  just  what  suits  her  best  and  the  rest  of 
us  can  call  it  what  we  like." 

Mrs.  Hannington  observed  aloud  without  any  manifest 
feeling,  "  Good  as  they  are,  I  've  always  noticed  a  hard 
streak  in  the  Hanningtons.  If  there  's  one  person  in  this 
world  you  can't  blind,  it's  my  own  mother ;  she  sees  straight 


168  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

through  Stella,  and  yet  I  do  believe  she  's  half  fond  of 
her." 

"Grandma  likes  pretty  people,  and  she  does  n't  have  to 
suffer  for  her  likes  and  dislikes.  She  sits  one  side  —  she 's 
interested  in  folks,  whether  they  're  the  just  or  the  un- 
just." 

"  Grandma  suffers  what  we  suffer,  I  guess,  but  she  sees 
there 's  an  end  to  all  of  it ;  an  end  to  our  wisdom  and  our 
conceit  of  our  own  justice  ;  and  to  all  the  wonderful  hap- 
piness young  folks  think  is  meant  for  them  that 's  going 
to  last  forever,  and  the  sorrow  they  think  they  never  can 
bear.  I  know  we  shall  bear  this,  but  I  wish  I  did  know 
where  it 's  going  to  end!  " 

"  It  won't  end  —  short  of  a  life  for  a  life.  He 's  taken 
what  he  can't  give  back.  '  Burning  for  burning,  wound 
for  wound.' " 

"  Father,  that 's  benighted !  We  're  some  ways  beyond 
Leviticus,  I  should  hope." 

"  You  're  mistaken ;  everything  in  the  Bible  is  in  life. 
We  come  to  it  piece  by  piece  ;  and  we  've  got  to  take  it. 
I  don't  say  it's  meted  out  to  one  more  than  another." 

"  Well,  I  hope  you  get  your  fill  of  the  Old  Testament 
before  you  're  through  with  it.  I  always  pitied  Mr.  Yard- 
ley  ;  he 's  never  advanced  much.  But  I  never  dreamt  his 
own  son  would  have  to  pay  for  his  antiquated  judgments. 
I  promised  I  'd  submit  to  what  he  said  should  be,  but  I 
believe  he  'd  thank  us  now  to  set  his  word  aside  and  just 
rebel !  I  'm  ready  to,  for  my  part.  I  'm  ready  to  go  to  him 
now  and  say  it 's  too  much  !  If  he  leaves  one  of  us,  he  '11 
have  to  leave  us  all." 

"  Well,  now  I  put  my  foot  down  !  You  '11  do  no  such 
thing.  This  paying  for  Stella  stops  right  here.  You  took 


MUTINY  169 


the  responsibility  on  you,  and  when  you  got  through  you 
said  4  Now,  I  leave  it  to  the  men.'  This  is  a  man's  way." 

"  Three  men's  way,  I  guess  you  mean.  Jimmy  won't 
back  out ;  his  father  can't,  now  ;  the  other  I  don't  call  a 
man.  But  if  you  '11  stand  by  me,  you  and  I  could  give  Mr. 
Yardley  a  chance  to  forget  he 's  a  rod  of  Aaron  and  act 
like  a  human  being.  Don't  you  believe  he  'd  thank  us  ?  I 
do !  I  believe  he 's  just  praying  now  for  some  way  out  of 
it." 

"  He  did  his  praying  beforehand.  He  won't  ask  for  a 
new  way  to  be  shown  him." 

"  Why  should  n't  he  ?  A  new  way  was  shown  ;  —  had 
to  be,  or  the  world  could  n't  go  on.  Don't  the  hymn  say 
'  last  best  creed '  ?  Don't  you  see  how  good  it  would  turn 
out,  if  you  'd  only  have  the  courage,  Alvin  !  " 

"  I  'm  going  to  have  the  courage  to  keep  my  word  and 
obey  the  Law,"  said  her  husband. 

"  Oh,  the  Law !  There  are  forty  different  ways  of  read- 
ing the  Law,  but  there  is  only  one  Jesus." 

"  I  said  I  would  follow  Mr.  Yardley  and  abide  by  his 
judgment  on  this  march  and  I  am  going  to  do  it,  and  I  ex- 
pect my  wife  will  do  the  same,  unless  you  want  to  take 
hold  and  run  the  whole  thing  yourself." 

"  I  don't  see  how  we  can  do  it !  "  moaned  the  woman. 
"  How  are  we  ever  going  to  forget  those  two !  How  are 
you  going  to  feel,  when  night  comes  down  and  you  are  fix- 
ing you  to  sleep,  and  friends  all  around  you,  and  don't 
know  what  may  be  creeping  upon  them  !  How  's  Jimmy 
Yardley  going  to  keep  awake  every  night  —  a  young  man 
like  him  ?  They  '11  be  followed,  and  they  '11  be  surprised!  " 

"  Silence,  where  's  your  faith  in  anything  ?  Jimmy  's 
got  to  do  this  ;  there 's  no  one  else  for  it.  His  father,  if 


170  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

he 's  consistent,  can't  pardon  a  woman  to  save  a  man  — 
and  his  own  son  at  that !  How  could  any  one  believe  that 
scoundrel  would  have  hung  back  ?  Why,  I  'd  do  it  myself 
if  I  wa'n't  owing  money  and  had  no  family  to  provide  for, 
though  I  should  be  out  of  my  element  considerable ;  it 's  a 
young  man 's  job.  Jimmy,  I  ventur',  don't  feel  to  be  pitied 
one  bit ;  no  more  than  if  he  was  going  to  sea.  Sailors  have 
to  be  broke  of  their  sleep,  young  or  old.  He  won't  get  lost ; 
he  is  n't  afraid  to  fight  and  he  won't  be  in  a  hurry  to  fight. 
You  '11  see  it  will  make  a  man  of  him !  And  if  he  has  any 
foolishness  left  for  Stella,  this  trip  will  take  it  well  out  of 
him.  He  '11  know  her  before  it 's  through.  Now,  go  and  see 
what  you  can  do  for  her  and  don't  talk  mutiny  to  me  in 
the  middle  of  the  desert." 


CHAPTER  XX 

A   SURE  REMEDY 

"My  poor  little  queen,"  wrote  Bradburn.  "  It  looks  as 
if  she  was  downright  forsaken,  but  that  is  n't  so.  The  old 
inquisitor  fixed  up  a  devilish  trap  for  us  this  morning, 
didn't  he?  I  was  even  with  him,  though,  if  son  Jimmy 
had  n't  been  taken  the  way  he  was.  When  I  got  up  and 
showed  the  other  sons  of  Adam  what  to  do,  I  supposed  they 
would  all  follow  like  sheep.  That  would  have  left  Parson 
Yardley  alone  with  the  Tables  of  the  Law.  I  think  the 
tables  would  have  turned  on  him ;  he  could  n't  have  thrown 
little  Eve  out  of  the  Garden  alone  (perhaps  you  don't  see 
the  Garden !)  — Nay,  his  own  flock  would  have  torn  him  to 
pieces  first.  Having  settled  that  in  my  mind,  I  went  away. 

"  You  never  can  tell  what  children  and  fools  will  do 
next.  The  son  of  the  judge  plays  the  part  of  saviour.  He 
hangs  to  his  job  like  a  dog  to  a  bone.  —  We  '11  let  him 
have  it,  then ;  give  the  parson  a  taste  of  his  own  medicine. 
As  it  happens,  if  I  had  been  looking  for  a  man  to  take  my 
place  as  your  escort,  I  believe  I  'd  have  picked  Yardley ; 
but  he  will  take  no  orders  from  me,  hang  his  impudence! 
You  must  manage  him, 

"  My  darling,  on  no  account  stop  at  Fort  Hall !  I  want 
you  to  winter  over  at  Bridger's  new  fort.  The  place  will 
be  clean  anyhow.  You  can  trust  old  Jim.  He's  the  best  sort 
I  know.  I  trust  him,  even  with  you.  Wait  for  me  there 
and  take  care  of  yourself  for  my  sake.  But  if  things  take 
such  a  turn,  with  pig-headed  boys  in  charge,  that  you  can't 
do  my  way,  then  you  keep  me  informed.  I  shall  think  of 


172  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

you  every  moment,  but  you  know  how  I  am  tied.  —  Must 
deliver  the  goods  to  the  U.  M.  O.  Must  get  my  commis- 
sions, and  nail  that  discovery  before  some  one  gets  ahead 
of  me.  It  will  give  us  our  kingdom,  my  golden-haired 
gypsy !  Soon  as  I  get  rid  of  these  church  farmers  and  fix 
the  other  matters,  I  am  after  you ;  no  shadow  of  turning 
in  me.  But  I  was  caught  this  morning,  —  I  own  it.  The 
father  and  son,  both  together,  were  rather  much  for  me. 
Pacienza  !  I  shall  get  even  with  those  two  yet.  No  man 
ever  bested  me  in  the  long  run. 

"Now  for  the  last  word !  Don't  let  me  frighten  you,  but 
mind  what  I  say.  If  that  boy  tries  to  take  you  as  far  as 
L/aramie  with  no  more  guns  along,  never  on  your  life  be 
parted  one  instant  from  the  contents  of  this  box.  The  pills 
are  wax  outside  and  a  trifle  big  for  a  baby  throat  like 
yours,  but  inside  is  the  best  gift  I  can  give  you  if  you 
should  be  taken  by  Indians  alive.  If  you  are  chased,  put 
one,  or  two,  in  your  mouth.  But  for  God's  sake,  don't 
close  your  teeth  on  it  unless  you  are  actually  in  the  devils' 
hands.  Do  I  make  it  plain  enough?  I  wish  you  knew  how 
I  feel,  writing  this!  Don't  experiment  —  don't  delay! 
Either  is  fatal.  This  is  for  the  moment  we  call  the  last 
extremity ;  be  sure  it 's  come  before  you  use  my  gift.  But 
when  you  are  sure,  don't  delay.  Farewell,  my  star  of  the 
desert.  Stars  will  set,  but  they  rise  again.  Pity  your  poor 
pilgrim  when  he  turns  his  face  away  from  the  east.  He 
will  suffer  more  than  you." 

As  Stella  read  these  closing  words,  she  tore  the  sheet 
across ;  then  she  took  up  her  gift,  and  smiled.  When  the 
little  white  box,  with  its  careful  fastening  of  string  and  seal- 
ing-wax, dropped  into  her  lap  out  of  the  letter,  her  thought 
had  been,  he  has  sent  me  a  pledge  —  his  diamond  ring ! 


A   SURE   REMEDY  173 

A  short  time  later  Bradburn  got  her  reply. 

"Your  last  gift,  like  all  your  gifts  to  me,  is  inexpensive, 
I  judge,  and  it  is  something  you  have  no  use  for  yourself. 
When  I  say  'all '  I  forgot  the  lump  of  gold  —  but  you  took 
that  back.  I  remember  you  said  it  might  be  '  safer.'  It  is 
quite  safe,  and  so  are  you  and  all  your  secrets,  for  what  I 
care !  Go  and  find  your  kingdom  and  find  some  one  else 
to  share  it  with.  But  I  thank  you  for  this  last  gift.  I  will 
think  of  you  when  I  am  ready  to  use  it.  Farewell,  'fellow 
traveller.' " 

Bradburn  asked  himself  sincerely,  What  did  the  girl 
expect  ?  Had  he  not  done  all  a  man  so  trapped  could  do  ? 
The  facts  he  reminded  her  of  she  had  known  before  ;  could 
these  facts  be  altered  ?  Did  she  seriously  demand  that  he 
should  fling  away  the  whole  foundation  in  material  means 
of  that  life  glorious  they  had  planned  together  to  save  a 
bad  hour  and  a  period  of  waiting  ?  How  could  he  have 
foreseen  that  the  parson's  son  would  pick  up  his  carefully 
rejected  role  and  make  it  the  star  part  in  the  performance  ? 
No ;  his  letter  explained  everything,  but  she  was  a  child 
and  something  hurt  her.  She  must  be  kissed  and  cured  at 
once. 

But  Jimmy's  action  did  not  by  any  means  strike  him 
as  negligible.  The  infatuated  boy  (Bradburn  was  still 
convinced  of  Jimmy's  passion  for  Stella)  had  become  a 
rival  seriously  to  be  reckoned  with.  What  he  had  done 
proclaimed  what  he  might  be  capable  of,  once  alone  with 
the  monstrous  advantages  he  had  seized.  Bradburn  could 
see  nothing  in  Jimmy's  championship  but  the  wild  hope 
of  possession ;  thy  woman  —  my  woman,  if  I  can  snatch 
and  console  her.  Stella's  rebuff  and  Jimmy's  defiance, 
taken  together,  gave  him  food  for  much  thought. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


JIMMY,  though  hurried  with  thoughtful  preparations, 
could  spare  an  eye  for  what  was  taking  place  in  the  Han- 
ningtons'  quarter  of  the  camp.  He  saw  Barbie  leave  the 
tent  and  wander  off  by  herself  after  one  look  at  her 
mother's  visitor.  Jimmy  saw  that  look.  He  was  puzzled 
and  indignant.  Mrs.  Hannington  had  been  talking  to  the 
man  all  of  ten  minutes,  and  still  he  stood  there  quite  at 
ease,  throwing  his  weight  carelessly  on  one  hip,  cocking 
his  hat-brim  against  the  sun,  obviously  expecting  her  back 
again  soon.  If  Bradburn  were  to  be  taken  into  the  councils 
of  that  family,  —  after  the  scene  of  the  morning,  —  no  won- 
der Barbie  had  fled  confounded.  He  started  in  pursuit  of 
her  with  no  definite  purpose  but  to  be  near  in  case  she 
might  wish  to  speak  to  him. 

She  did  not,  apparently ;  she  gave  him  one  quick 
glance,  —  said  "Jimmy,"  by  way  of  greeting,  and  they 
walked  on  together  in  silence.  They  had  nowhere  to  go  in 
their  miserable,  isolated  self-consciousness.  The  strange 
publicity  both  families  had  achieved  was  hardly  a  subject 
for  them,  yet  Barbie  could  think  of  nothing  else.  Jimmy 
had  his  resolution  on  his  mind :  he  had  also  pockets  to 
drive  his  restless  fists  into  ;  —  Barbie  had  only  her  thimble, 
which  she  had  been  using  when  her  mother  made  her 
drop  her  work.  All  the  motions  of  her  hands  were  dearly 
familiar  to  him  in  those  feminine  arts  and  crafts  which 
are  practised  with  the  aid  of  a  thimble.  Young  men  have 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  175 

remarkable  powers  of  observation,  off  and  on,  and  Jimmy, 
at  one  time  in  his  lamented  past,  had  cultivated  with 
tingling  results  the  habit  of  observing  Barbara.  There 
are  layers  and  layers  of  one's  consciousness  ;  every  season- 
able experience  that  bears  fruit  in  the  soul  leaves  its  drift 
and  buries  its  seeds  of  memory.  Suddenly  as  mayflowers 
are  uncovered  by  spring  winds,  a  perfume,  an  ecstasy  of 
the  most  evasive,  subtle  delicacy,  took  hold  of  him.  It 
was  one  of  those  moments,  ghostlike,  that  came  and  went 
on  that  strange  pilgrimage,  where  none  of  them  seemed 
to  be  themselves.  This  immense  bare  valley,  that  incred- 
ible scene  of  the  morning,  the  thing  his  father  had  done, 
and  what  he  was  about  to  do,  —  this  preposterous  parting 
—  all  sense  of  the  present  went  out  of  him  ;  he  could  not 
think ;  association  was  sharper  than  fact.  He  smelled 
hyacinths  blooming,  —  hyacinths  and  daffodils,  in  earthen 
pots,  in  the  Hanningtons'  sitting-room  in  winter ;  it  was 
the  short  mid-term  vacation,  —  those  evenings  after 
skating  when  Barbie's  cheeks  in  the  close-heated  room 
(she  was  too  young,  then,  to  have  her  company  in  the 
parlor)  mounted  that  wonderful  deep,  blush  rose  that 
lends  distracting  brilliancy  to  blue  eyes  with  dark  lashes  ; 
when  he  would  sit  transfixed  on  the  sofa  apart,  enter- 
tained by  her  parents  while  his  eyes  wandered  to  her 
profile  against  the  lamp  where  she  sat  sewing  by  the  centre- 
table.  In  a  thrill  of  memory  keen  as  the  scent  of  those 
imprisoned  flowers,  he  lived  it  all  over  again,  —  to  the 
moment  which  crowned  the  hours  of  waiting  when  Deacon 
Hannington's  book  slipped  down  and  his  head  sank  back 
and  his  wrinkled  eyelids  closed,  and  Mrs.  Hannington 
rose  softly  and  went  out  for  a  plate  of  apples  and  nut- 
cakes  cold  from  the  pantry,  and  he  would  compass  the 


176  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

distance  feebly  to  Barbie's  chair  and  make  her  look  at 
him  in  those  pleading,  confused  attempts  at  conversation 
between  them  which  were  so  bad  for  fine  sewing.  Her 
work  would  flutter  down,  her  fingers  go  astray,  she 
would  fall  to  playing  with  her  thimble,  flash  it  to  and 
fro,  drop  it,  very  likely.  —  All  this  was  damaging  to  a 
studied  frame  of  mind;  it  finished  Jimmy's  perfected 
resolution. 

"Oh,  Barbie,"  he  said,  simply,  but  quite  mad,  "I 
want  that  little  old  thimble.  Give  it  to  me  now,  won't 
you?" 

"  My  thimble  ?  "  she  turned  her  languid  eyes  towards 
him  haughtily.  "Are  you  really  out  of  your  senses, 
Jimmy  ?  What  do  you  want  with  my  thimble  ?  " 

"  What  do  I  want  with  anything !  naturally  I  don't 
intend  to  wear  it." 

A  laugh  gushed  out  of  her.  "  That  is  so  exactly  like 
you ! " 

"  What  is  like  me  ?  " 

"  The  whole  thing !  a  perfectly  foolish  speech  which 
you  wouldn't  take  back  for  anything  in  the  world,  no 
matter  how  it  sounded." 

"  It  sounds  all  right,  only  you  are  exacting,  I  think,  on 
the  point  of  sanity,  —  considering.  Why  should  n't  I  ask 
for  a  trifling  keepsake  when  I  'm  saying  good-bye  ?  " 

"  From  me  !  "  said  Barbie,  suddenly  grave. 

"Who  else?" 

She  answered  him  first  with  silence ;  —  "I  don't  re- 
member that  we  have  ever  been  on  a  footing  of  keep- 
sakes." 

"  Don't  you  ?  Then  I  should  propose  a  change  in  our 
footing  at  once." 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  177 

"  There  have  been  changes  enough,  I  think ;  let  us  try 
to  keep  what  we  have  left." 

"  Barbie,  why  do  you  take  that  tone  with  me,  just  now  ? 
Explain  it,  won't  you?" 

"  It  does  n't  need  explaining  —  " 

"  Why,  I  think  it  does  ;  you  seem  to  imply  that  we 
never  have  been  friends." 

"  We  never  have  —  on  the  footing  you  seem  to  imply." 

"Is  that  quite  true?"  Jimmy  said  deliberately. 

She  reflected,  moving  her  hands  in  the  way  that  wore 
upon  him  :  he  wanted  to  take  them  and  hold  them  still.  "  If 
it 's  not,  I  think  you  should  not  remind  me  of  it.  I  have 
a  right  to  think  —  of  what  is  past  —  in  any  way  I  choose." 

"  That  is  true :  nevertheless  I  have  something  to  say  to 
you  —  about  yourself  and  me,  and  one  other  —  " 

"  Then  I  shall  leave  you ;  only  let   me  say,  first  — " 

"  Oh,  no :  you  must  let  me  talk,  Barbie.  I  've  begun 
wrong,  but  what  of  that  ?  Give  me  a  moment :  I  '11  show 
you  if  I  am  crazy." 

She  had  turned  away,  but  stood  so,  listening ;  she  must 
listen  —  this  last  day.  She  pitied  him  —  wondered  over 
him  so,  saw  him  in  such  a  whirl  of  misery.  He  kept  his 
gaze  upon  her.  She  was  changed  in  looks,  any  one  could 
see,  in  this  last  year ;  there  were  deeper  lines  which  gave 
a  womanly  pathos  to  the  lowered  eyelids,  larger  and  more 
wan.  But  it  was  her  own  profile,  distressingly  sweet ;  it 
could  not  change.  The  Psyche  droop  of  the  tall,  white, 
bended  neck,  the  short  perpendicular  intent  brow.  And 
then  she  turned  and  gave  him  a  curious,  waiting,  patient 
smile.  "  I  thought  you  had  come  to  say  good-bye,  quietly 
and  sensibly." 

Jimmy  laughed.  "  It 's  a  nice,  quiet,  sensible  occasion 


178  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

for  good-bye,  is  n't  it  ?  It 's  one  of  those  good-byes  that 
may  last  the  rest  of  our  lives,  you  know.  I  want  to  say  a 
few  things  first." 

"  Not  about  me  !" 

"  Yes,  you  and  me  —  and  Stella." 

"  No  ;  no,  Jimmy !  "  she  pleaded  sternly. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  must.  There  can  be  misunderstandings  be- 
tween friends  that  are  worse  than  any  parting,  —  they 
are  the  parting.  They  are  more  destructive  than  death." 

"  There  are  a  great  many  things  more  destructive 
than  death,"  said  Barbie. 

"  We  need  n't  manufacture  them  for  ourselves." 

"  What  is  it  you  want  to  explain  ?  I  don't  misunder- 
stand you,  Jimmy.  You  had  a  friend  —  you  have  her  still. 
I  don't  profess  to  follow  you  in  these  days  all  the  way  a 
friend  perhaps  should  go ;  but  you  need  n't  explain  to  any 
one,  I  should  hope,  why  you  cannot  turn  your  back  on  a 
girl  you  cared  for  once,  when  she  had  everything  to  give, 

—  because  —  she   had  been  robbed,  and   left  —  on   the 
road." 

Having  taxed  herself  to  say  this  all  out  to  the  end,  Bar- 
bie flew  ahead ;  when  he  reached  her  side  again  she  was 
shuddering,  bowed  down,  her  face  between  her  hands.  She 
did  not  weep  free  tears ;  she  fought  with  the  hard  par- 
oxysms of  the  young,  who  mistake  their  strength  and  are 
overtaken  suddenly. 

He  walked  beside  her  —  every  moment  more  content 

—  listening  to  her  long-drawn,  broken  breaths  following 
the  wrecking  sobs.  Out  of  the  storm  came  a  bewildering 
peace. 

"  I  was  afraid  you  might  be  thinking  something  like 
that,"  he  began  on  a  different  key,  coaxingly.  There  was 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  179 

sunshine  in  his  tones.  Barbie's  heart  expanded :  she  gave 
one  long,  last  sigh.  He  tried  to  take  her  hand,  but  she 
refused  it. 

"  You  are  utterly  mistaken :  I  am  not  Stella's  broken- 
down  lover,  nor  her  champion  personally.  It  is  the  case  of 
Stella.  Any  other  man  has  an  equal  right  to  take  it  up 
—  only  there  was  none.  I  regard  it  as  the  grimiest  episode 
of  my  life.  The  only  thing  that  could  make  it  more  in- 
fernal  would  be  that  you  should  mistake  the  situation  and 
I  not  be  able  to  explain.  There  is  no  situation  :  it 's  a  wild 
accident ;  —  no,  not  quite.  There  may  be  a  certain  devilish 
hilarity  in  it.  I  was  more  or  less  intoxicated  with  your 
cousin  once.  I  paid  for  my  little  spree ;  I  paid  with  about 
all  I  had,  but  not  with  myself.  No ;  when  it  comes  to 
pitying  me  for  what  I  'm  supposed  to  suffer,  I  'd  like  you 
to  give  me  credit  for  knowing  what 's  worth  suffering  for. 
We  know  that  women  may  ruin  their  lives  and  men's 
lives,  and  be  loved  —  not  the  same,  but  loved  —  by  men 
who  can  be  faithful  to  them  ;  —  different  men  from  me, 
and  not  women  like  Stella.  Can  you  let  me  say  that  ?  It 's 
not  because  of  the  catastrophe  —  it 's  because  of  what 
made  it  too  easy  —  what  will  go  on,  with  Stella,  to  the 
end  ;  that  is  why  I  can  justify  my  father  and  carry  out  his 
orders,  though  he  is  terrible." 

"  You  are  terrible  !  " 

"  Ah,  I  have  been  her  fool !  —  not  Very  long,  though, 
and  only  a  fool  of  a  boy." 

Barbie  gave  him  one  of  her  clear  looks,  like  a  call. 
"  You  shall  not  let  me  hear  you  abuse  that  boy  !  —  I 
loved  —  the  boy,"  she  added  softly. 

"  The  man  loves  you.  What  are  you  going  to  say  to 
him,  —  the  man  that  you  made  ?  " 


180  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  did  n't  make  yon,  Jimmy," —  she  might  as  well  have 
added  the  "  dear,"  for  her  way  of  speaking  his  name 
amounted  to  the  same  thing.  "  You  made  yourself,  '  with 
divine  assistance,'  and  I  looked  on  and  was  cross  with 
you." 

"  Well,  perhaps  Stella  made  me  :  she  certainly  articu- 
lated me  limb  from  limb.  She  played  the  mischief  with 
some  of  me,  but  not  all  of  me ;  because,  you  know,  the 
best  part  of  this  male  specimen  has  always  belonged  in 
your  collection,  you  hard-hearted  girl !  " 

"  I  am  hard-hearted,  —  there's  too  much  truth  in  that ; 
—  but  not  to  you,  I  'm  ashamed  to  say :  —  to  others  who 
are  weaker  and  have  no  family  and  no  home." 

"Now,  where  is  she  coming  out  on  this?  "  Jimmy  en- 
quired aloud,  impartially. 

This  time  he  insisted  on  the  hand ;  she  gave  his  a  hasty 
squeeze  and  dispensed  with  it  firmly,  while  she  went  on 
to  say  :  — 

"  Mother  trusted  me  to  be  sweet  to  her.  —  I  never  was ! 
We  were  put  together  like  sisters,  and  I  was  mean.  I 
made  comparisons,  —  I  disliked  her  ;  I  almost  loathed  — 
Oh,  I  can't  tell  you  !  —  Yes,  I  must !  I  was  even  jealous 
of  her  looks,  and  her  charm  that  confused  everybody  when 
I  knew  what  she  was !  It  enraged  me  to  have  father  pet 
her  the  same  as  he  does  me  ;  and  my  own  mother,  —  so 
much  my  own,  —  always  on  her  side,  excusing  her,  want- 
ing me  to  love  her!  I  couldn't  bear  to  see  her  head  in 
mother's  lap.  I  was  glad  when  she  engaged  herself  to  that 
ridiculous  Horace.  I  wished  her  —  gone,  anywhere,  any- 
how !  I  have  prayed,  without  saying  the  words  —  just  in 
the  cowardly  meanness  of  my  heart  —  to  have  her  taken 
out  of  our  lives  forever,  before  she  won  away  from  me  every 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  181 

one  I  loved. — Now,"  said  Barbie  in  tragic  accents,  "  God, 
who  must  be  just  before  He  can  be  merciful,  has  answered 
that  prayer.  He  has  '  removed '  Stella '  from  the  fore-seat/ 
and  taken  you,  too !  That 's  the  way  it  must  work  out 
when  we  want  to  fix  things  so  nicely  for  ourselves.  I 
thought  she  was  all  safe  there  with  Horace  —  and  Hor- 
ace's mother  —  to  anchor  her  down,  and  we  should  be 
sailing  away  to  Galilee,  a  perfect  company  —  just  the 
ones  who  belonged  together.  You  see  the  difference !  But 
if  I  'm  to  be  punished  more  —  oh,  I  hope  it  need  n't  be 
through  you,  Jimmy,  for  really  that' s  not  fair !  " 

"  —  Even  for  God,  I  suppose  !  "  mocked  the  unregen- 
erate.  "  You  precious  little  darling  egotist !  Do  you  sup- 
pose the  Lord  spends  his  time  weighing  you  up  every 
Monday  morning  to  see  how  much  heavier  you  are  in 
sin?  "  He  laughed  in  the  face  of  her  Divine  Justice,  strut- 
ting in  his  hour  of  happiness,  but  suddenly  perceived  that 
it  was  not  wise  to  laugh  in  hers.  He  took  her  hand  in- 
stead and  held  it  warm  and  hard,  and  argued  with  her  in 
good,  set  fashion  out  of  his  personal  idea  of  life  and  the 
ruler  of  his  existence. 

"  You  give  me  that  little  black  heart  of  yours  :  I  '11  ed- 
ucate it !  How  were  you  to  learn  self-abnegation,  my  child, 
unless  you  put  it  on,  and  then  I  should  hate  you  —  living 
all  your  life  under  the  wing  of  your  blessed  parents,  the 
apple  of  their  eye !  It  is  n't  what  you  do,  dear,  nor  what 
you  feel,  for  you  don't  feel  the  same  two  days  together  — 
even  about  Stella!  It's  what  you  are  everlastingly  made 
of  that's  going  to  count  in  the  long  run.  You  are  the 
making,  I  want  you  to  understand,  of  everything  a  man 
needs  in  his  life.  You  are  the  stuff  the  best  of  us  are 
made  of,  and  that 's  why  I  want  you  in  our  family.  Men 


182  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

are  fastidious,  too,  when  they  are  n't  fools.  We  shall  fight, 
of  course :  I  'm  an  only  child  and  a  man,  besides ;  but, 
wow !  it 's  more  fun  to  fight,  with  the  woman  you  love, 
on  the  wide  house-tops,  than  to  sit  and  suck  thumbs  at 
any  other  female  feast  —  or  gorge,  if  you  like !  " 

Barbie  was  giggling  girlishly.  She  believed  every  word 
he  said,  though  it  was  not  orthodox. 

"You  can  say  good-bye  to  that  'boy,'  though;  he's 
my  hated  rival.  He  got  me  into  trouble  once.  I  don't 
want  him  in  our  house." 

"  He  belongs  in  my  house  !  I  am  going  to  keep  him,  for 
times  when  I  get  tired  of  you.  —  I  dare  say,"  she  sighed, 
"  we  may  grow  young  again  if  we  live  long  enough.  — 
When  will  you  be  able  to  come  back  to  us,  Jimmy?  "  The 
shadow  fell  upon  them  and  put  out  their  joy. 

"  Oh,  next  day  after  never,"  Jimmy  groaned.  "  Not 
until  next  spring  anyway.  I  'm  taking  no  more  fool  chances 
after  this,  let  me  tell  you ;  I  want  to  live  a  long,  hard  life 
with  you."  Her  laugh  with  that  tremor  in  it  was  a  sound 
he  seemed  to  have  missed  for  years. 

"  Barbie  —  darling  —  I  want  you  to  believe,  dear,  I 
did  n't  look  for  all  this.  I  only  meant  to  tell  you  some- 
thing I  thought  you  ought  to  know.  But  it  is  n't  too  much 
'  —  I  need  it.  There  's  lots  more  I  shall  want,  though,  when 
I  have  earned  it." 

"  You  will  earn  it,  hard  enough,  —  more  than  I  can  ever 
give  you.  It 's  nobler  and  harder  than  anything  I  ever 
heard  of.  It 's  '  stranger  than  fiction.'  It 's  Christian 
chivalry.  It 's  watching  your  armor  before  you  are  made 
a  knight  —  " 

"  Dear,  it 's  grime !  And  we  've  wasted  time  horribly. 
Here  's  a  whole  summer  gone,  and  now  we  must  part. 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  183 

Think,  if  this  had  only  happened  months  ago !  Could  it, 
do  you  think,  if  I  had  n't  been  a  coward  ?  " 

"  Don't  be  a  greedy  Goliah  ;  it 's  happened  now." 

"  Ah,  so  late :  —  and  nowhere  in  this  wide  wilderness 
where  I  can  have  you  one  second  to  myself  !  I  should  like 
to  show  Lottie  Kiersted  over  there  just  what  I  think  of 
you  this  minute  ;  she  's  looking  at  us  as  if  she  e  wanted  to 
know ' ;  —  shall  I  ?  —  surprise  her !  " 

"  Jimmy,  behave !  You  must  let  go  my  hand." 

Barbie,  affecting  a  tragic  indifference  to  her  companion, 
was  leading  the  way  rapidly  "  home."  She  wore  a  faint 
rose  in  the  centre  of  each  cheek,  the  color  of  flown  joy, 
and  Jimmy's  gray  eyes,  lighted  to  their  blackest  depths, 
blazed  his  secret  to  Lottie  Kiersted  —  to  all  and  sundry. 
He  revelled  shamelessly  in  the  curiosity  this  conspicuous 
stroll  of  theirs  aroused  ;  it  stung  him  to  think  that  others, 
perhaps  every  one,  looked  at  the  situation  as  Barbie  had 
done. 

"That  man 's  gone  anyhow !  "  she  announced,  seeing  that 
her  father  and  mother  were  now  talking  by  themselves  — 
quite  forcibly,  it  could  be  noted,  even  at  that  distance. 
"  My  mother,  my  mother !  "  she  cried,  with  one  of  her  quick 
revulsions  ;  "  she  has  borne  this  thing  for  months,  and  she 
loves  Stella  even  now !  But,  oh,  Jimmy,  I  think  to-day  she 
looks  as  if  it  was  going  to  kill  her ;  and  poor  father  is 
almost  out  of  his  mind.  Can  I  love  Stella  when  I  look  at 
them?" 

"  She  cannot  hurt  them,  really." 

"  No :  but  she  can  kill  them  —  and  you,  too.  I  think 
sometimes  she  will  finish  us  all  in  the  end." 

"  You  are  worn  out,  Blessedest.  Stella  is  a  poor  thing 
for  our  fears,  don't  you  think  —  rather  ?  " 


184  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Well,  you  wait  and  see  !  " 

"  Anyhow,  /'m  going  to  look  after  Stella  ;  and  it 's  the 
man,  after  all  —  " 

"  And  him  we  have  still !  " 

"  I  tell  you,  he  can't  hurt  us  either,  except  in  ways  per- 
fectly immaterial  like  himself." 

"  He  is  very  dangerous." 

"  He  is  very  business-like.  Men  who  buy  and  .sell  do 
nothing  rash." 

"But  they  can  be  treacherous:  see  how  he  circum- 
vented your  father." 

"  He  will  not  be  apt  to  circumvent  his  God." 

"  It  does  n't  seem  as  if  he  could  have  one  !  " 

"  His  own  devil,  then,  little  communicant !  I  should  n't 
have  ventured  to  say  that  to  you !  I  think  you  flatter  him, 
you  know.  He 's  a  common  wretch ;  his  remarkableness 
consists  in  his  being  one  of  us." 

"Good-bye,  now,  Jimmy  —  "  The  tender  voice  dwell- 
ing upon  his  name  made  the  flushes  go  over  him, 

"  Will  you  remember —  I  take  your  little  soul  with  me, 
to  be  the  strength  of  mine  —  to  bring  me  back,  in  the 
right  way  ?  " 

"  Oh,  if  I  have  a  soul,"  she  whispered,  "  I  'm  sure 
you  're  welcome  to  it !  "  They  both  laughed  crazily,  being 
as  wretchedly  happy  as  the  circumstances  allowed.  "  I 
must  go  in  now,  but  nothing  will  seem  the  same :  I  can 
bear  anything  now." 

It  struck  Mrs.  Hannington,  as  it  had  Lottie  Kiersted 
and  various  others,  that  Jimmy  and  Barbie  seemed  to 
have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  each  other,  for  a  day  that  was 
so  full  of  things  for  both  of  them  to  do.  They  had  not 
been  in  the  habit  of  going  for  walks  together. 


A  THIMBLEFUL  OF  LOVE  185 

"  Oh,  here 's  your  old  thimble,  if  you  want  it :  "  Barbie 
lingered  distractedly,  because  Jimmy  would  not  go. 
"  Achilles,  take  your  distaff,"  she  taunted.  He  refused  to 
smile.  "  I  shall  be  hurt  if  you  don't  take  it  now." 

"  What  will  you  do  without  it  ?  I  'm  afraid  you  '11  be 
lazy." 

"You  always  did  have  a  queer  effect  upon  my  sew- 
ing —  "  They  gloated  over  the  past  that  could  not  hurt 
them  now. 

"  I  remember  trying  to  get  that  large  tool  away  from 
you  once,  when  you  would  n't  stop  sewing  ;  we  had  quite 
a  scuffle." 

"  We  both  lost  it ;  and  you  had  to  go  under  the  table 
after  it  —  " 

"  And  bumped  my  head,  and  you  laughed  enormously ! 
You  were  a  wicked  child.  My  soul,  how  we  have  wasted 
time  !  Go  in,  for  heaven's  sake  !  —  Oh,  my  thimble,  bless 
its  little  heart !  " 

He  helped  himself  to  his  maniacal  trophy  and  de- 
liberately, before  several  distant  witnesses,  put  a  cere- 
monial kiss  on  the  blanched,  tender  finger-tip  it  left  bare. 
"  Now,  run  in  and  don't  let  that  finger  of  mine  take 
cold." 

"  That 's  the  one  he  ought  to  have  had  before  he  tangled 
himself  up  in  this  business,"  Sam  Kiersted  observed  to 
Lottie,  his  wife,  —  a  small,  vivid,  black-eyed  person  he 
had  married  after  a  two  weeks'  courtship,  but  was  in  love 
with  still. 

"  Perhaps  he  could  n't  get  her,"  said  Lottie,  in  behalf 
of  the  sex  that  waits. 

"  It  looks  that  way,  don't  it !  "  Sam  exulted.  "  I  guess 
little  Jim  don't  have  to  go  round  on  his  knees  much  to 


186  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

girls.  Well,  she  '11  be  another  victim,  if  anything  hap- 
pens to  him." 

"Victim  of  what?" 

"  —  The  parson's  threshing-floor.  Where  there 's  such 
an  almighty  wind  let  loose,  something  besides  chaff  is 
bound  to  go." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THINKING   IT   OVER 

THEY  travelled  slowly  that  first  day  of  the  separation ; 
even  the  dumb  beasts  lagged,  with  ears  strained  back, 
listening  for  their  road  companions  that  had  been  parted 
out  for  the  sinner's  convoy.  Bradburn  rode  alone,  well  in 
advance  ;  he  addressed  no  one,  and  his  face  of  wrath  and 
gloom  forbade  speech  to  him.  Bits  of  rather  free  com- 
ment on  the  late  occurrence  went  on  in  subdued  tones  at 
a  safe  distance  from  the  leaders. 

"  How  are  you  feeling  about  now,  Sam  ?  " 

"Mean  as  dirt!  "  grunted  Sam. 

"  I  feel  a  good  deal  like  a  pious  nigger-driver  myself. 
How  do  you  suppose  the  parson  takes  it  about  Jimmy  ?  " 

"  Parson  Yardley  lives  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 
I  suppose  he  *s  feeling  like  Abraham,  about  now." 

"  Well,  where  's  the  angel  of  the  Lord  ?  Abraham  has 
stood  his  test — " 

"  You  can't  call  Jimmy  a  sacrifice  for  nothing  but  a 
father's  pride,  though  it  looks  so.  He  's  acting  like  a  little 
man  ;  he  '11  save  us  a  lot  of  trouble,  besides  helping  out 
the  girl.  Where,  by  gracious,  would  we  be  if  the  other 
had  owned  up  ?  " 

A  faint,  awkward  smile  passed  between  the  two  young 
husbands. 

"  Think  you  know  who  it  is  ?  " 

"  Parson's  process  of '  elimination '  —  mental.  It 's  safer 
than  picking  us  over  on  the  spot  —  and  surer. — You 
know  who  he  is  as  well  as  I  do." 


188  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  That 's  a  long  way  from  charging  him  with  it.  He 's 
a  man  I  would  n't  want  to  differ  with  much  on  this  road. 
The  Injians  we  met  last  Friday  said  there  are  two  ways 
to  cross  those  mountains.  They  couldn't  tell  us  which 
was  which,  or  they  would  n't.  The  party  ahead  got  dis- 
puting and  split !  Now,  which  way  's  the  best  it 's  going 
to  take  a  cunning  eye  to  tell.  There  would  be  fresh  hoof- 
tracks  both  roads." 

"  I  go  back  to  the  question  ;  has  Mr.  Yardley  any  right 
to  discipline  one  that  is  n't  a  member?  " 

"The  people  she  comes  with  handed  her  over;  that's 
what  they  promised  to  do.  '  Families  shall  not  transgress 
within  themselves  and  hide  the  transgression  ' ;  those  were 
his  words.  My  wife  has  got  his  letter  —  the  copy  we 
signed  ;  —  any  'private  transgression,'  or  '  contagious  dis- 
ease.' We  read,  last  night,  what  the  parson  was  quoting 
from  Thessalonians.  —  Guess  there  's  no  getting  around 
it.  It 's  worse  than  he  dared  to  give  us  —  the  whole  of  it. 
They  want  to  live  free.  Now,  see  how  they  like  it." 

"  They !  If  it  was  4  they ' ;  but  it 's  her  and  Jimmy. 
That 's  lunacy." 

"  The  parson  did  his  best  to  reach  the  fellow.  What 
could  he  do  more  ?  Throw  a  woman  overboard,  and  the 
man  who  loves  her  will  jump  first.  Trouble  was  with  the 
parson,  he  expected  a  man.  But,  squirm  as  we  like,  here 
we  are  and  we  need  him.  As  far  as  the  parson  goes,  don't 
you  worry !  He  '11  pay  his  share ;  anyhow  you  put  it, 
there's  his  son.  The  Lord  can  foreclose  on  him." 

"  Yes ;  but  how  about  us  ?  We  have  n't  put  up  any 
bond.  Where  do  we  stand?" 

"  Ship's  discipline ;  our  grandfathers  used  to  maroon 
men  —  land  'em  and  sail  away." 


THINKING  IT  OVER  189 

"  They  did  n't  maroon  women  !  We  're  wandering  from 
the  point.  Every  mile  we  go  they  are  going  a  mile  the 
other  way;  that  makes  two;  — I  say  something  ought  to 
be  done.  We  're  not  children ;  we  can't  put  this  off  on 
Mr.  Yardley.  He  's  a  good  man,  but  he  's  carried  this  too 
far." 

"  Do  you  hear  many  saying  so  ?  "  the  first  speaker 
asked  uneasily. 

"  I  say  so  myself,  and  I  'm  going  to  stir  around  for 
votes.  There  ought  to  be  a  protest  signed  by  every  man 
of  us,"  said  Kiersted. 

"  How  about  the  women  ?  My  wife  says  leave  the  minis- 
ter alone ;  the  women  are  all  for  the  martyr  side ;  they 
like  strong  doings." 

"  I  'd  like  to  horsewhip  Alvin  Hannington.  He  brought 
the  girl.  She  's  his  own  blood  kin.  He  never  ought  to 
have  given  her  up.  The  case  would  n't  spread.  It  would  n't 
have  hurt  any  one  of  us  to  take  her  along.  This  looking 
ahead  to  who  your  children 's  going  to  marry  before  they  're 
born  is  stretching  it  pretty  far,  I  think.  Mr.  Yardley  was 
an  only  child ;  and  then  he  was  a  minister  with  money 
in  the  bank ;  and  then  he  was  a  widower,  sixteen  years, 
with  an  only  son.  What  chance  has  he  ever  had  to  learn 
about  life  !  I  don't  say  he  is  n't  all  right  on  principle  but 
the  man  lacks  common  sense." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  tackle  him  ?  " 

"  Work  it  up  to-night  quietly,  and  have  a  big  talk  with 
him  to-morrow  morning  before  we  start.  I '11  bet  anything 
he 's  pretty  sick  over  it  himself." 

That  night  was  Bradburn's  moment  if  he  had  been  cool 
enough  to  seize  it.  But  he  did  not  even  suspect  it  was 
there.  He  had  travelled  with  these  men  all  summer. 


190  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

thought  he  knew  them,  and  called  them  "sheep."  With  all 
his  cleverness  he  missed  the  very  point  of  the  situation  : 
he  believed  that  his  only  course  was  to  ignore  them  as 
allies,  make  the  trump  himself  and  play  his  hand  alone ; 
the  others  he  supposed  had  all  "  passed." 

Moreover  he  was  frightfully  unnerved,  sleepless,  and 
shaken  by  the  conflict  between  his  two  live  cravings  : 
which  to  satisfy,  which  to  bind  over.  When  the  choice 
had  been  forced  upon  him  he  said,  money  first ;  love  affairs 
must  wait.  The  girl  was  his  ;  but  the  gold  was  in  the 
ground,  and  his  time  contracts  were  running  out.  Now  it 
looked  not  so  certain  that  Stella  was  his.  Jealousy  added 
its  goad  to  the  sting  of  her  repulse.  He  dashed  down  his 
trucks ter's  scales ;  the  money  rolled  away.  All  he  could 
see  was  a  golden  head,  in  close  proximity  to  Jimmy's, 
while  that  good-looking  youth  packed  their  stuff  for  the 
mutual  journey.  They  looked  like  the  typical  young  pair 
starting  forth  on  that  time-honored  pilgrimage  in  which 
two  are  a  company  and  three  a  crowd.  It  was  a  memory 
provocative  of  maddening  suggestions. 

In  the  Hanningtons'  quarter  of  the  camp,  also,  there 
was  hard  thinking  and  little  sleep.  Alvin,  after  all  his 
mighty  talk  of  the  day  before,  groaned  like  a  sinner  in 
his  blankets  ;  and  his  wife,  while  she  soothed  him,  battled 
with  a  secret  shame  of  her  own,  —  a  giving  way  in  spite 
of  herself  to  the  sense  of  rest,  utter  physical,  mental, 
moral,  immoral  rest  in  being  free  from  the  load  of  Stella's 
daily  presence;  "just  ourselves"  once  more.  "What 
must  be  coming  to  me,"  she  thought,  "  for  such  a  spiritual 
breakdown  ?  " 

Barbie,  like  any  young  person,  supposed  herself  to 
be  alone  with  the  ravaging  testimonies  of  the  night.  A 


THINKING  IT  OVER  191 

fastidious  moral  training  rejects  such  a  meretricious  per- 
formance as  her  late  confession  to  Jimmy ;  that  was  no 
penance  worthy  of  the  name.  There  might  even  be  the 
subtlest  of  dangers  in  contact  with  a  point  of  view  so 
overbalanced  in  one's  favor,  —  so  ingeniously  clever  at  de- 
fending one  against  one's  self.  She  and  her  conscience  re- 
mained on  the  same  dark  terms  as  before.  Her  state, 
indeed,  was  worse  :  she,  who  had  been  crowned  by  hap- 
piness and  enriched  by  hope,  —  could  she  not  put  a  little 
spontaneity  into  her  labored  compassion  for  Stella?  Alas, 
she  could  do  many  things  for  Stella  of  set  purpose,  but 
she  could  not  quicken  that  dead  plant,  affection  ;  having 
forced  the  first  feeble  shoots  too  hard  and  unavailingly, 
all  life  seemed  now  to  have  gone  out  of  the  root. 

She  tried  to  feel  towards  her  as  if  she  were  the  Scrip- 
tural Magdalen,  Christ's  immortal  penitent,  crouched 
for  all  the  ages  at  humanity's  feet.  Instead,  she  saw  a 
painter's  invention  —  spurious,  to  Barbie's  Puritan  eyes. 
The  print  had  been  shown  her  once  in  a  Boston  book- 
store :  "  Magdalene  at  the  entrance  of  her  cavern,"  it  was 
called.  That  plump,  blonde  female  was  Stella  to  the  life  ! 
There  was  an  actual  physical  resemblance.  The  smooth  flat 
brows  and  full  eyelids,  the  loops  of  fair  hair  pushed  against 
the  oval  cheek  by  that  lovely  hand  supporting  the  mock 
studious  head.  What  was  the  connection  between  those 
well-fed  charms,  those  dazzling  arms  and  shoulders  and 
bare  breasts,  and  the  life  a  penitent  leads  in  the  desert  of 
remorse  ?  No ;  that  comfortable  feline  creature  was  no 
Magdalen  of  the  cross.  She  was  a  fictitious  student  of 
higher  things,  a  burden  on  the  earth,  a  disintegrating  in- 
fluence in  any  normal  family  or  society  that  should  take 
her  in. 


192  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Why  should  her  sisters  love  her?  Her  desire  is  not 
towards  them.  It  is  little  brother  man  she  plays  with.  The 
rules  of  the  game  are  fixed  —  God  sitting  in  the  judge's 
chair.  This  was  how  Barbie  felt,  when  she  was  honest 
with  herself,  towards  the  victim  of  religious  law. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
A  SCOFFER'S  SERMON 

IT  was  early  on  the  morning  of  the  second  day; — these 
were  days,  every  circumstance  of  which  was  to  fix  itself 
in  the  memory  of  those  who  lived  them.  Bradburn,  lead- 
ing his  best  horse  saddled,  a  pair  of  Mexican  spurs  clash- 
ing at  his  heels,  walked  up  to  a  group  of  men  who  since 
breakfast  had  been  earnestly  conferring  with  the  minister. 
That  it  was  no  ordinary  camp  caucus  their  faces  bore  wit- 
ness. Mr.  Yardley  was  not,  outwardly,  at  his  best :  it  be- 
comes not  gentlemen  of  his  years  to  shave  but  once  a 
week,  and  wear  dark  flannel  shirts  with  loose  collars. 
Notwithstanding,  he  dominated  the  assembly,  and  those 
who  listened  to  his  cold  but  penetrating  words  were  not 
aware  of  his  shirt  collar. 

Bradburn  made  no  scruple  of  interrupting  them.  "You 
are  all  out,  I  see,''  he  opened  in  his  loud,  familiar  manner. 
"  Can  you  listen  to  a  lay  sermon  this  morning  ?  I  have 
a  few  words  to  say  to  you  before  I  start ;  —  call  it  my 
valedictory." 

They  turned  in  surprised  silence.  Their  captain  was 
equipped  in  every  point,  horse  and  man,  for  an  independ- 
ent journey,  with  gallant  adventures  in  view  his  dress 
betokened.  He  wore  a  new  suit  of  white-tanned  buck- 
skins, soft  enough  for  an  Indian  bride.  From  head  to 
foot  he  was  fringed  and  tagged  and  silver-buttoned.  His 
black  silk  neckerchief  and  dark  blue  shirt  contrasted 
elegantly  with  the  pale-hued  buckskin ;  a  commoner  type 


194  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

of  dandy  might  have  chosen  red :  Bradburn's  visage  sup- 
plied enough  of  that ;  the  blood  vessels  of  his  forehead 
and  face  were  swollen ;  his  eyes  blazed  impudent  fire. 

He  pulled  from  the  blanket-roll,  strapped  behind  his 
saddle,  a  small  crackling  bundle  done  up  in  oiled  silk ; 
slapping  his  gloved  palm  with  this,  he  summoned  their 
attention.  The  rudeness  passed  unnoticed.  They  did  not 
believe  him  so  dashingly  at  ease  as  he  pretended,  and 
when  Bradburn  was  at  the  pains  to  pretend,  they  knew 
him  well  enough  by  this  time  to  be  on  guard. 

"  I  am  headed  the  other  way  this  morning,  gentlemen ; 
carrying  out  Parson  Yardley's  programme,  you  see.  Better 
late  than  never.  But  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  one 
fact :  I  am  forced  out  of  this  sanctimonious  concern. 
There  has  been  friction  right  along  from  the  first  between 
Mr.  Yardley  and  myself.  He  wants  to  father  my  conduct 
as  he  does  yours.  That  can't  be.  If  he  'd  known  anything 
about  men,  he  wouldn't  have  been  surprised  to  find  I 
drink  when  I  feel  like  it,  and  flip  a  card,  and  so  on.  — 
There  are  other  things  I  don't  do.  I  used  to  read  the 
Bible  —  as  a  book.  There  are  funny  things  in  it.  You 
take  it  seriously  when  St.  Paul  says,  has  n't  a  Christian 
got  the  right  '  to  lead  about  a  wife  who  is  a  believer.' 
Those  are  the  words,  I  think.  That 's  exactly  what  you  do. 
You  lead  about  a  wife,  who  is  '  a  believer  '  —  fortunate 
for  you.  You  put  her  in  a  log  hut  —  God  knows  where  ! 
You  expect  her  to  bear  you  a  child  every  two  years  and 
nurse  it,  and  cook  your  meals  and  wash  your  clothes  and 
scrub  the  floor  you  pray  on  ;  she  mends  and  makes,  and 
saves,  and  teaches  filthy  Indians,  and  entertains  all  the 
travelling  brothers  and  sisters,  and  adopts  their  orphans 
and  keeps  cheerful  and  faithful  to  the  end.  I  have  seen 


A  SCOFFER'S  SERMON  195 

whereof  I  speak.  I  have  eaten  at  Dr.  Whitman's  table 
and  listened  to  his  wife  sing  hymns  and  wondered  where 
in  God's  name  the  woman  got  her  strength." 

"  —  From  God,"  said  the  minister's  voice. 

"Thanks,  sir,"  Bradburn  retorted.  "You  probably 
know,  but  that  is  faith.  Faith  is  like  red  hair ;  it  goes  with 
some  temperaments,  but  every  woman  is  n't  born  with  that 
kind.  You  had  a  young  lady  with  you  that  I  am  deeply  at- 
tached to.  Miss  Mutrie  could  not  live  the  life  you  expect 
your  lawful  wives  to  live.  I  would  n't  myself  inflict  such 
a  life  on  a  dog.  She  chose  me,  knowing  I  was  no  church 
member.  I  did  n't  tell  her  I  was  married  when  we  first 
met.  The  truth,  if  you  call  it  so,  would  have  deceived  her 
then  ;  it  would  have  parted  us,  and  I  wanted  her.  I  knew 
she  was  mine.  Nor  am  I  married  —  in  any  sense  to  ex- 
clude me  from  love  or  teaching  her  to  love.  My  only  ob- 
ject in  concealing  my  relations  with  her  was  to  keep  the 
peace  amongst  us  as  men  while  we  were  partners ;  till  the 
contract  was  fulfilled  on  both  sides.  As  I  am  not  pledged 
to  live  according  to  Mr.  Yardley's  ideas,  am  not  a  mem- 
ber of  his  church,  nor  the  young  lady  either,  I  don't  see 
where  his  priestly  jurisdiction  came  in.  But  it  worried 
him  just  the  same.  It 's  become  a  habit  with  him  to  feel 
accountable  to  God  for  the  conduct  of  his  fellow  men.  He 
read  up  the  case  in  the  Bible;  he  got  hysterical  about 
such  a  thing  hanging  to  his  skirts.  He  could  n't  get  at  me 
by  name,  but  he  took  the  name  of  the  young  girl,  an  or- 
phan, —  set  her  up  in  his  spiritual  stocks  before  you  all ! 
Our  ancestors  used  to  do  the  same  thing  literally ;  I,  for 
one,  am  not  proud  of  it.  He  called  for  the  man  who  be- 
longed there  beside  her :  —  he  meant  me,  but  he  had  no 
evidence  to  say  so.  He  just  advertised  for  a  yellow  dog. 


196  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

I  don't  answer  to  that  name,  nor  you  didn't.  It  was,  so 
far,  on  him.  He  could  n't  cast  out  the  girl  alone :  even 
church  members  would  have  turned.  I  gave  you  that 
much  credit.  So  I  went  away.  Then  the  parson's  son  — 
he  has  a  taste  for  church  theatricals  too;  —  he  saw  a 
chance  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  hero  and  martyr  line. 
He  volunteered  just  in  time  to  save  the  whole  show  from 
being  a  fizzle." 

Bradburn  ground  his  thumb-nail  against  his  teeth  and 
continued,  gripping  the  thumb  inside  his  fist. 

"  Casting  young  women  to  the  beasts  for  young  men  to 
rescue  them  is  a  fine  spectacle,  gentlemen,  a  new  form  of 
excitement  to  crop  out  on  a  pious  jaunt  like  this.  Why,  any 
of  my  forbidden  little  pastimes  would  be  a  child's  tea-party 
to  it !  But  it  gets  to  be  exhausting.  I  don 't  know  how 
you  feel,  but  I've  had  about  as  much  as  my  system  can 
stand.  I  leave  you  here,"  — he  tossed  his  packet  on  the 
ground  —  "  all  the  maps  I  have  ;  my  maps  are  in  my  head. 
Yardley  thinks  he 's  road-wise :  I  hope  he  '11  take  you  safe 
through.  I  expect  to  overhaul  him  about  to-morrow  dark  ; 
I  will  relieve  him  of  his  job  and  he  can  have  mine.  My 
contract  calls  for  safe  conduct  of  this  party  through  to  the 
Willamette  Valley ;  I  needn't  mention  what  I  lose  myself 
by  turning  back  —  but  Mr.  Yardley  will  feel  safer  without 
me.  I  expect  he  'd  be  afraid  of  the  wrath  of  God  in  those 
mountains,  with  such  as  I  am  along.  If  I  'm  not  overtaken 
in  my  sins,  you  will  see  me  sometime  next  spring,  and  I 
don't  abate  one  damned  dollar  of  my  price  to  you,  for 
you  've  broken  your  own  contract.  So  I  'm  off,  —  good-bye. 
I  bear  you  no  ill-will  as  men  ;  it  is  the  shape  of  your  con- 
victions that  cramps  me.  The  Lord  will  take  care  of  his  own 
and  I  hope  you  will  continue  to  be  without  sin  among  you." 


A  SCOFFER'S   SERMON  197 

They  had  made  camp  for  the  night  at  the  entrance  to 
Grande  Ronde  Valley.  The  country  behind  them  was 
rugged ;  little  hills  interlapping  shut  off  the  distance.  Brad- 
burn  rode  his  spare  horse,  the  pacer,  seldom  used  since 
Stella  had  graced  the  saddle  on  its  back.  The  beast  was 
full  of  life ;  he  sprang  away  under  the  rider :  five  minutes 
after  his  last  words  were  said,  their  captain  was  gone  out 
of  sight.  And  then  the  storm  broke  upon  the  head  of  the 
preacher. — The  line  of  argument  has  been  sketched  already. 

Mr.  Yard  ley  appeared  to  listen  to  each  person  in  turn 
who  interrupted  the  spokesman.  In  reality  he  heard  only 
the  words  of  Bradburn's  speech.  It  left  him  as  a  Christian 
leader  no  choice.  Across  the  open  circle  of  the  great  valley 
a  range  of  foothills  climbed ;  warm  oak  woods  covering 
their  slopes  on  the  sheltered  side,  golden  aspens  in  the 
gulches,  firs  thick  and  tall  —  firs  and  pines  stunted,  strag- 
gling up  towards  timber-line ;  gulfs  of  shadow  marking  sepa- 
rate planes ;  then  the  lonely  peaks, — pure  flat  color  against 
the  paler  sky,  and  on  their  tops  a  glittering  menace  of  snow. 

"There  is  the  last  divide,  my  friends,"  said  the  minister ; 
"  there  is  our  holy  mountain.  As  many  as  are  faithful  will 
march  on  with  me.  Those  who  would  feel  safer  with  Cap- 
tain Bradburn  will  go  and  take  their  families,  part  their 
stuff  from  ours,  and  join  him,  but  they  need  not  return  to 
me.  Don't  confuse  yourselves  with  the  idea  that  in  suing 
Bradburn  to  come  back  you  would  help  Stella  Mutrie, 
While  she  is  under  his  protection  she  cannot  be  a  member 
of  my  flock.  I  will  not  receive  her  back  if  she  comes 
with  him.  You  of  course  may  impeach  my  authority;  you 
have  the  numbers,  but  on  my  responsibility  those  two  will 
not  rejoin  this  company.  Take  your  choice :  I  go  forward, 
if  I  have  to  go  alone.  But  I  shall  wait  here  a  due  time  first 


198  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

for  James  Yardley,  —  not  as  my  son ;  as  I  would  wait  for 
any  one  of  you,  and  no  longer." 

Having  delivered  this  ultimatum,  the  preacher  turned  his 
back  on  paltering  humanity  and  faced  the  mountain  of  en- 
deavor. In  a  few  moments  Samuel  Kiersted,  spokesman  and 
leader  of  the  insurgents,  a  big-boned,  red-fleshed  man,  came 
and  put  out  the  hand  of  reconciliation.  Mr.  Yardley  gave 
his  in  silence. 

"Well?  "he  enquired. 

"  All  right,  Mr.  Yardley.  It 's  all  right.  We  '11  stick  it 
out  with  you.  But  see  here :  have  you  any  objection  to  let- 
ting some  of  us  go  back  for  Jimmy  and  Stella  —  just  them- 
selves ?  " 

"  Sam,  why  do  you  come  here  and  tempt  an  old  man  in 
his  hour  of  trial  ?  " 

"  Oh,  go  on,  Mr.  Yardley !  We  '11  be  responsible." 

"You  had  better  see  what  the  wives  say  first." 

"  Does  that  mean  you  are  willing?  " 

"I  wash  my  hands  of  it." 

Alas ;  the  men  who  were  thought  fittest  to  go  back  were 
husbands,  and  the  wives  said,  "No." 

As  day  after  day  dragged  by,  their  own  peril  more  defin- 
itely over-shadowed  them.  They  were  making  as  it  was  a 
close  calculation  on  the  arrival  of  the  first  big  snow.  When 
a  week  had  passed,  it  was  agreed  (Mr.  Yardley  being  spared 
a  voice  in  the  matter)  that  a  search  party  should  go  back, 
and  volunteers  were  called  for.  Deacon  Hannington,  admon- 
ished by  age  and  obvious  unfitness,  did  not  press  his  claim 
of  kinship  before  the  younger  men.  Sam  Kiersted  was 
chosen  leader  as  the  best  man  for  the  job.  Lottie,  his  wife, 
thought  him  the  best  man  for  her  job  and  tried  to  keep  him 
on  it,  but  this  time  the  women  were  not  consulted. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE   DIVIDE 

JIMMY  began  very  soon  to  see  where  his  chief  difficulty 
would  lie.  It  was  near  the  middle  of  September  and  they 
were  four  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Hall :  a  certain  rate  of 
progress  they  must  make  each  day  or  be  caught  in  the 
snow.  Stella  groaned  under  his  exactions.  She  could  stand, 
she  told  him,  just  about  so  much !  He  had  seen  her  day 
by  day  stand  more,  under  the  form  of  stimulus  that  ap- 
pealed to  her.  "  If  I  save  her  life,  I  shall  have  to  treat  her 
like  a  child."  Jimmy  had  never  handled  children,  but 
thought  he  knew  how  it  should  be  done,  having  observed 
the  mistakes  of  parents. 

He  went  over  with  her,  again  and  again,  the  unaltera- 
ble facts  which  an  intelligence  of  six  years  might  have 
retained.  Stella  had  now  no  object  in  going  one  way  more 
than  another ;  her  "  spur  in  the  head  "  was  gone ;  Jimmy 
fell  back  on  the  "  spur  in  the  heel,"  which  brought  the 
situation  down  to  a  level  humiliating  to  both. 

"  Keep  up  !  keep  up ! "  would  come  the  reiterated  com- 
mand, Jimmy  leading,  a  long  way  ahead,  Stella  looking 
her  despair ;  or  he  would  ride  back  and  rouse  her  beast 
himself,  and  when  a  rough-and-tumble  gait  followed,  she 
scolded  her  rude  knight  and  asked  why  not  tie  her  hands 
behind  her  back  at  once  and  lead  her  as  his  captive ! 

The  trail  for  much  of  the  way  led  through  a  broken 
country  of  hills  and  box-canyons,  along  precipices  where  a 
mis-step  were  fatal.  In  such  places  they  could  not  travel 


200  A   PICKED  COMPANY 

off  a  walk ;  time  should  be  made  up  on  every  fair  stretch 
between.  Stella,  misunderstanding  Jimmy's  silence,  treated 
it  as  punitive  and  tried  on  him  little  humble  politic  arts 
of  solicitation  which  caused  him  to  writhe.  He  had  never 
spent  two  consecutive  hours  before  alone  in  her  company. 
She  affected  him  as  wholly  deficient  in  feeling  suited  to 
her  case  —  forgetting  she  was  hardly  likely  to  see  it  as 
he  saw  it. 

They  lagged  along  in  this  fashion,  losing  a  little  each 
day,  and  failed  the  second  evening  to  make  their  proper 
camping-spot.  Night  overtook  them  on  the  mountain  be- 
tween Burnt  and  Powder  rivers,  an  exposed  spot  in  a 
strong  cold  wind.  He  tied  the  horses  to  trees  and  left 
them  whinnying  for  supper.  There  was  no  grass  and  no 
water  nearer  than  a  canyon  half  a  mile  farther  on,  down  a 
descent  dangerous  to  riders  after  dark.  They  were  un- 
happy without  their  coffee,  but  Jimmy  refused  to  go  for 
water  and  leave  his  camp-mate  alone.  He  was  both  afraid 
to  do  so  and  disposed  to  let  her  taste  the  consequence  of 
what  he  called  her  feebleness.  She  complained  of  cold  ;  he 
objected  to  more  fire,  since  what  they  had  was  a  beacon 
conspicuous  to  the  country  round  ;  but  he  wrapped  her 
scornfully  in  all  the  blankets  and  gave  her  hot  Scotch 
made  with  what  little  water  was  left  in  the  canteen,  con- 
tent to  go  without  as  punishment  for  being  hard  with  her 
on  purpose.  She  settled  herself  in  a  nook  out  of  the  wind 
and  he  watched  her  doze  off.  Passionate  regrets  and  com- 
parisons, as  useless  as  they  were  cruel,  occupied  his  mind 
and  did  not  tend  to  quiet  his  nerves  for  guard  duty,  but 
there  was  no  danger  of  his  sleeping. 

Some  moments  later  Stella  sprang  up,  startled  by  a 
stone  plunging  down  the  bank  above  her  that  struck  the 


THE   DIVIDE  201 


log  she  leaned  against.  Straining  upward,  she  saw  Jimmy 
pause  as  he  was  stealing  past. 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

He  made  a  gesture  for  silence,  and  slipped  by. 

She  heard  him  moving  about  at  intervals.  Before  long 
he  came  back  and  sat  down,  reflecting. 

"  What  did  you  think  you  heard  ?  " 

"  I  thought  I  'd  take  a  look  around,  that 's  all." 

"  Jimmy,  you  heard  something." 

"  I  imagined  I  heard  a  strange  horse's  step.  It  must 
have  been  one  of  our  own." 

"  Are  they  all  right  ?  Did  you  look  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  they  will  be  restless.  It 's  a  poor  place  for 
them.  You  need  not  be  frightened  if  you  hear  steps  stir- 
ring about  to-night." 

"  I  wish  you  had  n't  gone.  The  negroes  say  it 's  a  bad 
sign  to  stub  your  foot  against  a  stone  or  anything  when 
you  start  out." 

"  It 's  a  sign  of  clumsiness,  which  is  a  —  "  He  checked 
himself,  and  they  both  listened. 

"  Was  that  one  of  our  horses  whinnying  ?  " 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Jimmy. 

"It  sounded  too  far  off,  to  me." 

"  The  wind  is  the  other  way." 

Stella  still  seemed  nervous.  She  began  fumbling  in  her 
dress.  "  I  want  to  show  you  something,  Jimmy,  —  a  friend 
gave  me,  —  Captain  Bradburn." 

At  the  name  Jimmy  started.  They  looked  at  each  other 
straight  for  an  instant. 

She  opened  the  box  and  showed  him  Bradburn's  gift; 
the  four  white  pills  nearly  covered  the  bottom  of  the  small 
receptacle. 


202  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  This  is  all  he  could  do  for  me ;  —  for  me !  " 

Her  eyes  and  Jimmy's  met  again.  She  showed  her  beau- 
tiful white  teeth  in  the  firelight,  but  her  lips  were  pale. 

"Do  you  know  what  they  are  for?  They  are  just  wax, 
filled  with  some  poison,  —  quick,  I  hope.  He  recommends 
me  to  take  them  without  delay,  if  the  Indians  capture  us, 
you  know.  Don't  you  want  half,  Jimmy?  There  are  four." 

"  Did  Captain  Bradburn  give  you  those  himself  ?  " 

"  Yes,  in  a  letter  with  all  the  directions.  If  we  are  fol- 
lowed and  can't  get  away,  I  am  to  put  one,  or  two,  in  my 
mouth  —  not  to  bite  them  unless  I  am  actually  in  the 
Indians'  hands.  He  told  me  once  some  of  the  things  they 
do ;  he  has  a  way  of  putting  it  right  before  you.  He  said 
don't  be  in  a  hurry,  but  don't  delay.  You  see  how  much 
safer  this  is  than  your  pistol,  for  instance,  supposing  I 
could  make  you  promise  to  shoot  me.  You'd  wait  too 
long.  I  would  n't  trust  you,  Jimmy.  He  knows  what  to 
do,  you  see.  He  has  provided  for  everything." 

"  Stella,"  said  Jimmy,  after  awhile,  "  will  you  let  me  ask 
you  one  question  ?  I  have  a  reason  or  I  would  n't  —  That 
man  owes  you  enough !  Do  you  want,  now,  —  do  you  ever 
intend  to  take  —  anything  that  he  owes  you  ?  " 

"  Nothing  but  this." 

"  That 's  all  I  wanted  to  know,"  said  Jimmy. 

He  looked  long  into  the  darkness  beyond  the  glow  of 
their  sinking  fire.  His  cheek-bones  appeared  to  have  grown 
more  prominent  in  the  last  few  days.  Stella  took  note  of 
his  attractions  —  not  for  the  first  time ;  the  eloquent  sha- 
dows marking  his  eye-sockets,  the  modelling  of  his  nostrils, 
and  the  strongly  revealed  curves  of  his  upper  lip. 

"  Jimmy,"  she  remarked  casually,  but  with  her  entic- 
ing smile,  which  was  probably  as  much  beyond  her  control 


THE   DIVIDE  203 


as  the  color  of  her  hair,  "  I  did  n't  know  you  had  such  a 
handsome  mouth.  Firelight  is  very  becoming  to  you." 

44 1  did  n't  know,  Stella,  that  you  were  possessed  to  be 
such  an  utter  fool,"  Jimmy  retorted  mercilessly. 

"Jimmy  Yardley!  How  dare  you  speak  to  me  like 
that?" 

44  How  dare  you  speak  to  me  like  that  !  My  remark  to 
you  was  quite  as  fitting  as  yours  to  me,  under  the  circum- 
stances." 

"Thank  you!"  said  Stella;  her  lip  quivered.  "You 
don't  want  me  to  forget  my  '  circumstances '  —  not  for 
one  minute,  do  you  ?  " 

44 1  want  you  to  be  still  if  you  can." 

44  What  are  you  listening  for  ?  " 

44 1  don't  know  till  I  hear." 

A  short  silence  followed.  44 1  will  do  whatever  you  ask 
me,  if  you  won't  be  so  rude  to  me,  when  I  am  so  tired 
and  —  " 

44 1  ask  you  just  now  to  be  quiet ;  is  that  rude  ?  I  can't 
see  for  the  bushes  and  rocks  —  I  must  use  my  ears !  " 

44  Is  it  Indians  ?  "  she  whispered.  There  was  no  answer. 
She  crept  nearer,  and  softly  touched  him. 

"  No :  Indian  ponies  are  not  shod.  But  there  is  some 
one,  I  think,  camping  not  far  from  us.  Now,  you  know 
all  I  know." 

The  silence  this  time  lasted  long  enough  for  reflection 
on  his  side  to  do  its  work.  "  Stella,  I  beg  your  pardon  for 
being  so  rough  with  you.  I  can't  explain  why  I  spoke  so. 
Will  you  forgive  it?" 

44  Oh,  I  forgive  it :  I  'm  getting  used  to  some  things  I 
thought  I  never  could  bear.  I  never  did  quarrel  much 
with  people  anyway." 


204  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  I  wish  you  'd  let  me  take  that  box  and  keep  it  for 
you?" 

"  What,  my  dear  little  pillikins  ?  Not  for  the  world !  I 
never  felt  so  safe  in  all  my  life.  You  know  death  is  one 
thing  —  but  to  suffer!  I  shall  suffer  enough  before  we 
get  through ! " 

"  I  'm  in  earnest,  Stella.  You  ought  not  to  carry  that 
stuff  about  with  you.  No  decent  man  would  put  those 
things  in  your  hands  !  " 

"  Unless  he  knew  how  much  I  need  them !  He  trusted 
me  with  my  own  life  —  why  can't  you  ?  " 

"  I  would  n't  trust  any  one  so  unhappy  as  you  are  with 
anything  like  that,  day  after  day.  Come,  hand  over  that 
box." 

"  No  ;  I  '11  divide  :  if  I  need  them,  you  will,  too,  but  you 
can't  have  them  all.  That 's  one  thing  I  will  fight  for. 
You  can't  have  them  unless  you  take  them  by  force." 

Jimmy  accepted  the  challenge  in  silence,  meditating 
cunning  instead  of  force.  If  he  allowed  her  to  keep  her 
medicine  he  would  practically  be  aiding  Bradburn's  cynical 
purpose  when  he  tempted  her  with  this  cheap  egress. 
Jimmy  unhesitatingly  believed  this  of  Bradburn,  who  in 
his  thoughts,  that  same  moment,  was  doing  Jimmy  a  fouler 
injustice. 

"Aren't  you  almost  ready  to  turn  in,  Stella?  I  want 
to  cover  up  this  fire." 

Stella  stowed  her  box  in  a  pocket  of  the  coat  she  now 
took  off  and  folded  for  a  pillow.  Jimmy  observed  her, 
before  going  out  for  a  final  look  around  while  she  made 
her  preparations  for  bed,  camp  fashion. 

When  he  came  back  later,  he  discovered  she  had  left 
him  all  his  own  blankets  which  were  thicker  than  hers. 


THE   DIVIDE  205 


He  laid  an  extra  pair  over  her  and  she  thanked  him 
drowsily.  Even  that  little  act  made  him  gentler  to  her  in 
his  thoughts,  as  to  a  child  he  had  put  to  sleep.  Then  he 
sat  apart  and  waited.  It  was  his  conclusion,  judging  by 
those  sounds,  that  their  camp  was  being  watched  by 
one  man  —  a  white  man  —  and  would  be  visited  in  the 
morning.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  guessing  the  man's 
name,  or  the  nature  of  his  suspicions  when  he  chose  this 
manner  of  approach.  His  own  part  in  the  collision  to 
come  had  been  helped  somewhat  by  Stella's  answer  to 
that  straight  question.  In  defending  his  trust  he  would 
have  the  satisfaction  of  upholding  a  finer  choice  in  her 
than  he  had  believed  this  poor  little  daughter  of  Eve  to 
be  capable  of.  What  she  might  do,  in  the  event  of  a 
surprise  leading  to  capture  by  the  man  she  professed  now 
to  abhor,  he  had  no  conception  ;  —  therefore  he  felt  bound 
to  deprive  her  of  the  means  to  any  desperate  act,  which 
showed  his  unacquaintance  with  women  of  her  type  when 
they  boast  of  their  eagerness  to  die. 

He  went  about  his  task  with  innocent  composure.  For 
a  moment  he  stood  looking  at  the  sleeper,  studying  her 
attitude  with  reference  to  his  intended  theft ;  it  was  dis- 
couraging. She  had  crowded  the  folded  jacket  beneath 
her  head,  one  hand  saving  her  cheek  from  its  harsh  tex- 
ture. The  smallest  tug,  exploring  for  pockets,  would  start 
her  up  like  a  bird.  Jimmy  had  robbed  birds'  nests,  but 
birds  when  they  scream  are  not  articulate.  It  seemed  a 
clumsy  way  of  handling  a  delicate  matter  and  he  felt  the 
insufficiency  of  his  excuse. 

Stella,  he  decided  abruptly,  must  take  her  own  risks : 
his  vigilance  stopped  at  meddling  with  her  person. 

As  he  turned  away,  the  round  black  eyes  of  Bradburn 


206  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

looked  into  his  over  the  muzzle  of  a  revolver  which  had 
nearly  touched  his  chin.  The  pair  fell  apart,  smiling  at 
each  other  curiously. 

"  It 's  you,  is  it  ?  I  thought  so,"  Jimmy  remarked  in  a 
pause  with  no  amenities  to  fill  it ;  adding,  "  Why  did  n't 
you  come  around  and  show  us  who  you  were  ?  " 

"I  could  see  you  quite  well  where  I  was,"  Bradburn 
sneered.  "  Why  do  you  camp  in  such  fool  places?  And 
why  do  you  sleep  by  your  fire  where  anybody  can  spot 
you  ?  You  are  less  of  a  mountain  man  than  I  thought." 

"  You  have  taken  some  trouble  to  give  me  your  opin- 
ion ;  is  that  what  you  came  for  ?  " 

"  Meet  me  to-morrow  at  daybreak,  by  that  big  rock  — 
the  one  with  a  clump  of  junipers  :  I  '11  tell  you  my  busi- 
ness then.  Good-night ;  and  see  here.  You  are  a  parson's 
son ;  you  know  what  '  looking  on  a  woman '  the  way  I  saw 
you  just  now  may  do  to  you?  Take  care  your  eyes  don't 
send  you  tripping  down  the  back  stairs  "  —  Bradburn  re- 
versed his  thumb  and  smiled.  "  You  've  probably  heard 
of  the  place !  " 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE   BETTER   MAN 

IT  was,  as  Stephenson  says,  "  a  wonderful  great  night 
of  stars."  The  stillness  and  the  purity  of  frost  chilled  the 
air ;  towards  morning  the  sky  clouded  over  and  a  creep- 
ing wind  arose.  Slowly,  delicately  the  autumn  dawn  came 
on,  preparing  for  the  sun.  On  the  distant  ranges  there 
had  been  heavy  snow.  Jimmy  limped  from  his  shelter 
and  built  a  small  furtive  fire  for  warmth.  It  was  too  early 
to  cook  breakfast;  Stella  slept  on  undisturbed.  In  the 
night  —  his  lodging  being  paved  with  rocks  —  a  small 
compass  he  was  accustomed  to  carry  in  a  side  pocket  an- 
noyed him ;  he  changed  it  to  the  left  breast-pocket  of  his 
coat.  This  circumstance  should  have  been  mentioned  in 
its  proper  place,  for  it  belongs  in  that  train  of  eventuali- 
ties which  in  Jimmy's  philosophy  were  nothing  accounted 
save  as  accidents,  while  the  Eev.  Mr.  Yardley  saw  in  them 
proofs,  not  always  understood  but  unimpeachable,  of  the 
direct  interposition  of  Providence  which  disdains  not  the 
smallest  means  to  its  ends  —  all  fixed  beforehand  for  pur- 
poses wrapped  in  mystery.  Jimmy  could  be  very  sarcas- 
tic about  his  father's  survivals  of  a  belief  which  in  the 
main  he  condescended  to  share  —  with  reservations. 
There  would  always  be  more  and  more  reservations  on 
such  a  sliding  scale  of  conviction,  the  minister  argued, 
and  where  would  you  stop  ? 

As  he  stepped  forth,  facing  the  burst  of  distance  seen 
from  the  divide,  he  took  a  fresh  breath  of  amaze.  For 


208  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

uncounted  centuries  all  this  astonishing  beauty  had  been 
waiting  here  for  the  first  white  man  to  behold.  Savages 
had  known  it  and  hunted  each  other  off  that  prehistoric 
stage.  All  these  covert  paths  of  loveliness  had  been 
paths  of  death  tracked  by  predatory  feet  —  "the  wolf 
that  follows,  the  fawn  that  flies. "  This  stillness  was  an 
ambush,  and  he,  crunching  through  the  pure  frost,  spoil- 
ing shapes  of  wonder  at  every  step,  was  walking  in  these 
invisible  footprints,  bound  upon  the  ancient  trade. 

Bradburn  was  already  there,  by  the  rock,  expecting 
him.  He  said  "  Good  morning,"  and  spoke  of  the  cold ; 
his  manner  was  flat  and  perfunctory,  and  held  the  usual 
touch  of  condescension  towards  any  boy  of  Jimmy's  age, 
—  he  at  forty  being  manhood  in  its  flower. 

"  I  left  your  party  at  the  eastern  entrance  to  Grande 
Konde  Valley,  just  after  you  clear  the  canyon  wall.  You 
follow  the  river  right  down.  They  will  camp  there  till 
you  join  them." 

As  Jimmy  remained  silent,  Bradburn  urged  the  sug- 
gestion upon  him  without  concealing  his  own  impatience. 

"  You  'd  better  put  your  stuff  together  now  and  start 
on,  Yardley ;  you  don't  want  to  keep  them  waiting  long, 
you  know,  this  time  of  year." 

"  Why  should  you  think  they  expect  me  ?  " 

"Because  I  tell  you  they  do!  They  are  waiting  for 
you.  I  told  them  yesterday  morning  I  was  going  back  to 
overtake  you  and  relieve  you  of  your  job." 

"  But  you  can't  relieve  me  of  my  job,  Captain  Brad- 
burn." 

"  Can't  I  ?  Well  I  can  make  a  devil  of  a  shy  at  it ! " 

"  I  shall  do  my  best  to  prevent  you,  of  course,  if  neces- 
sary." 


THE  BETTER  MAN  209 

"Young  man,  don't  try  any  of  that  bluff  on  me! 
I  woke  up  cool  this  morning ;  I  don't  want  to  lose  my  tem- 
per. How  far  do  you  propose  to  carry  your  interference 
with  my  plans  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  why  you  call  it  my  interference.  You 
gave  up  this  *  job '  when  you  went  on  with  the  company. 
Now  you  come  back  to  interfere  with  my  plans.  You  are 
making  the  bluff,  not  I." 

"  That  is  how  you  see  it.  If  you  ask  the  person  most 
concerned,  I  think  you  '11  find  it  looks  a  little  different  to 
her.  Suppose  we  let  her  decide  ?  " 

"  I  did  ask  her,"  said  Jimmy,  "  for  my  own  satisfaction, 
but  she  can't  decide  either." 

"  What  did  she  answer?  " 

"  Her  answer  was  to  me.  — This  is  all  beside  the  mark. 
You  know  that  she  and  I  are  not  free  agents  on  this 
trip.  Her  friends  have  accepted  my  escort  for  her  and 
given  us  what  help  they  can ;  no  change  can  be  made  in 
the  programme  now  except  by  my  father's  orders." 

They  stood  less  than  five  feet  apart  and  their  voices  had 
not  risen  above  a  low  conversational  pitch. 

"  Don't  be  nonsensical,  Yardley.  What  is  this  to  you  ? 
For  what  I  said  last  night,  that's  nothing!  I  was  mad, 
with  good  reason.  I  don't  distrust  you  more  than  common. 
Now  get  back  to  your  own  crowd  and  put  them  out  of 
their  predicament.  You  can  take  it  on  my  word,  —  and 
I  've  no  reason  to  lie  about  it,  —  they  are  expecting  you  ! 
In  about  three  days  at  the  latest." 

"  Then  they  should  have  sent  a  special  word  to  that  ef- 
fect. Have  you  anything  from  my  father  to  show  that  I  am 
under  your  orders  ?  " 

"  Not  a  d — d  thing !  I  am  not  on  your  father's  clerical 


210  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

staff.  You  seem  to  be  obsessed  all  around.  Do  you 
think  the  Rev.  Yardley  is  the  Lord  in  his  holy  temple  ?  " 

"  I  think "  —  Jimmy  lowered  his  voice,  shivers  ran 
down  his  spine  —  "  that  you  had  better  be  careful  how  you 
speak  of  my  father  when  you  talk  to  me." 

"  By  — !  You  keep  up  this  row  much  longer  and  I 
shall  begin  to  think  you  have  something  of  your  own  at 
stake." 

"  I  have." 

"  Out  with  it,  then !  Don't  be  such  a hypocrite. 

What  do  I  care  for  your  high  moral  airs  !  If  you  want  to 
fight  me  for  the  girl,  I  can  see  some  sense  in  that !  " 

"  You  can  see  more  sense  in  it  than  I  can,"  said  Jimmy. 

He  wondered  if  ever  he  should  be  able  to  share,  with 
any  one  capable  of  understanding  it,  the  goblin  humor  of 
this  situation. 

"  If  you  have  been  talking  me  over  with  Miss  Mutrie, 
you  probably  know  something  of  my  connection  with  this 
affair.  What  business  have  you  to  start  up,  against  your 
father's  authority,  and  say  'Adam '  and  'Eve'  shall  not 
go  forth  together?  I  am  asking  you  the  question  from 
your  father's  standpoint." 

"  If  Adam  had  gone  with  Eve  when  he  was  called,  I 
should  not  be  here  myself." 

"  Adam  had  other  things,  at  the  time,  to  think  of." 

"  So  had  I,"  said  Jimmy  gloomily. 

"  Then  you  can  go  now  and  attend  to  those  things.  I  '11 
play  out  your  hand.  In  other  words,  pack  your  stuff  and 
take  the  road  you  came  —  or,  take  the  consequences." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  you  intend  to  put  me  out  of  my 
own  camp  by  force,  if  I  don't  get  out  at  your  orders  ?  " 

"  You  have  it  exactly  —  if  that 's   what  you  mean ! 


THE   BETTER  MAN  211 

We  '11  settle  it  here  and  now,  as  much  like  gentlemen  as 
we  can.  If  I  were  a  horse  thief,  I  could  have  picked  you 
off  last  night  and  saved  all  this  bother." 

"  Then  you  are  the  challenger.  It 's  not  my  quarrel  if 
I  have  to  resist  an  impossible  demand." 

"We  won't  split  hairs  on  it.  I  challenge  you,  then; 
that  gives  you  the  choice  of  weapons." 

"We  have  our  weapons,  I  think."  Jimmy  set  down  his 
rifle  against  the  rock  and  stood  armed  as  Bradburn  was 
with  a  revolver  and  its  mate,  the  invariable  hunting-knife. 

Bradburn  fortified  himself  with  a  quotum  of  tobacco, 
remarking  to  Jimmy  as  he  pocketed  the  plug  —  "  You 
don't  use  it,  I  believe  ?  God's  best  gift  to  man !  —  How 
shall  we  conduct  this  affair?  There  are  several  ways,  all 
good  form." 

"  It 's  an  accomplishment  you  are  better  skilled  in,  prob- 
ably, than  I  am.  Fix  it  as  you  like." 

"Twenty  paces,  then.  And  we  fire  together  at  the 
word.  That  is  technically  self-defence  if  we  were  hauled 
up  on  it." 

"  It  would  leave  her  in  bad  shape,  would  n't  it,  if  we 
both  should  drop  ?  " 

"  Not  likely  —  but  there  's  something  in  it.  How  will 
you  have  it,  then  ?  " 

"  Toss  up  for  turns  ?  " 

"  That  will  settle  you !  Coin  luck  is  always  on  my  side. 
Will  you  be  your  own  executioner?" 

Bradburn  offered  a  copper  cent  to  Jimmy,  who  shook 
his  head  with  a  writhen  smile.  "  Your  hands,  I  think,  are 
steadier  than  mine." 

The  coin  lay  poised  on  Bradburn's  thumb-nail.  "  If  you 
say  '  heads,'  or  if  you  say  '  tails,'  that  thing  is  bound  to 


212  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

fall  my  way !  Now,  let 's  quit  this  nonsense  and  go  about 
our  business :  I  don't  want  to  mess  with  a  boy  like  you." 

A  faint  color  came  into  Jimmy's  ashen  face. 

"  Thank  you,  Captain.  I  would  spare  your  feelings  if  I 
could,  but  this  appears  to  be  my  business,  just  now." 

"  Then,  farewell,  Pilgrim  father !  "  the  mockery  was 
not  coarsely  meant;  there  was  tribute  in  it  to  a  quality 
that  Bradburn  considered  preposterous,  yet  did  not  scorn. 
"  Heads  or  tails?  "  The  coin  flew  and  spatted  the  ground 
between  them. 

"  As  I  warned  you !  "  He  pointed  to  where  it  lay : 
Jimmy  had  lost. 

"  We  need  n't  shake  hands,  I  suppose,"  said  the  captain. 
"  That 's  a  gallery  play.  Go  back  about  ten  paces.  Halt ! 
I  shall  count  three." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

ENLIGHTENMENT    ON    BOTH   SIDES 

THE  first  shot  awakened  Stella  from  a  dream  in  which 
for  an  infinitesimal  space  it  mingled  in  a  disturbing  man- 
ner. At  the  second  shot  she  sat  up,  wide  awake ;  her 
calming  thought  was,  "  Jimmy  has  gone  pot-hunting  be- 
fore sunrise  " ;  she  took  it  for  a  sign  there  were  no  intruders 
near  camp.  The  fire  burning  peacefully  seemed  another 
assurance.  She  rose,  straightened  her  dress,  rolled  up  her 
blankets  wearily  and  sat  down  on  them  to  unbraid  her 
hair;  she  had  not  done  so  since  they  left  Lone  Tree 
Camp.  Now  she  loosened  its  whole  burnished  mass,  and 
brushed  it  tenderly.  She  loved  her  hair.  It  rose  in  a  cloud 
of  shining  filaments  following  each  stroke  of  the  brush, 
enveloping  her  as  if  it  loved  her,  too,  and  offered  its  glory 
to  console  her  in  her  abasement :  "  queen  "  —  of  hunger  and 
thirst — but  queen  of  beauty  still.  All  those  speeches  in 
which  he  had  clothed  his  pursuit  of  her  pointed  now 
to  its  selfishness,  naked  in  the  sequel ;  naked  but  un- 
ashamed. 

She  lingered,  tired  as  she  always  was  now  in  the  morn- 
ings and  thinking,  perhaps,  poor  fool,  "  Jimmy  has  never 
seen  my  hair  down  !  "  Aunt  Silence  was  so  precise  about 
camp  toilets  and  Barbie,  of  course,  —  a  perfect  old  maid ! 

But  Jimmy  did  not  come ;  had  he  lost  his  game,  or  was 
he  stopping  to  pluck  it  in  the  woods  ?  She  fed  the  fire  sul- 
lenly, feeling  neglected  and  cross. 

If  she  had  but  some  way  of  making  Jimmy  feel  her 


214  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

power  once  more  !  —  Once  she  held  the  hearts  of  men  in 
fee.  It  was  bitter  to  be  hunted  about  the  world  like  this 
at  the  behest  of  one  dreadful  old  man. 

Jimmy  came  at  last,  empty-handed.  Without  speaking 
or  looking  at  her,  he  began  to  prepare  a  bed  of  coals  for 
his  frying-pan. 

Suddenly  he  sat  back  and  glowered  at  the  fire,  still 
silent ;  his  shoulders  contracted  with  a  sharp  shiver.  She 
saw,  without  noticing  particularly,  that  his  color  was  bad. 

"  Did  n't  you  get  any  game  ?  "  she  asked.  "  You  shot 
something,  did  n't  you  ?  —  What  is  it  now  ?  Do  you  wake 
up  in  the  morning  angry  with  me  ?  " 

"  Angry  with  you  ?  " 

"  Hear  him !  You  won't  look  at  me ;  you  have  n't  so 
much  as  said  4  good  morning ' ;  you  won't  answer  when  I 
ask  you  what  you  were  shooting  at  —  " 

"  The  thing  is  dead.  Could  you  ride  on  as  far  as  the 
river?  We  can't  eat  here." 

"  Can't  eat  here  !  I  am  as  hungry  as  a  bear,  this  min- 
ute !  Jimmy,  how  pale  you  look  —  you  look  green  !  " 

44 1  am  a  little  sick ;  I  want  something  hot  to  drink.  The 
river  is  n't  far." 

44  Look  at  your  coat !  "  she  whispered.  4'  You  have  been 
shot !  Will  you  tell  me  that  is  n't  a  bullet-hole  ?  "  She 
pointed  at  a  small  puncture  in  the  cloth  of  his  reefing- 
jacket  over  the  left  breast.  He  covered  it  with  his  hand. 

44 1  was  hit ;  yes.  It  glanced  —  struck  something  in  my 
pocket ;  otherwise  —  you  see  for  yourself !  that 's  the  whole 
of  it." 

44  Was  it  —  that  man  who  camped  here  last  night?" 

"  Yes :  don't  ask  any  more  questions  now,  will  you  ?  " 

44  Only  one  :  where  is  he  ?  " 


ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH  SIDES    215 

"He  will  not  follow  us.  Can't  you  spare  the  subject  for 
a  while?  for  both  our  sakes." 

"I  just  want  to  ask  you  —  was  he  a  white  man?  You 
said  last  night  —  " 

Jimmy  looked  at  her ;  instead  of  shouting  as  she  ex- 
pected he  answered  low  but  fierce :  "  He  was  —  a  white 
man,  and  if  I  were  not  alive  by  accident  you  would  be  in 
his  hands  now.  Just  give  me  a  moment  to  think,  will  you  ? 
I  am  not  through  yet." 

Stella  stared  at  him  and  murmured  meekly,  "  You  do 
look  sick.  I  'm  very  sorry  —  If  you  'd  lie  down  and  get 
warm  while  I  —  Don't  try  to  do  that,  don't !  You  need  n't 
cook  anything  for  me :  I  '11  ride  to  the  river." 

He  thanked  her  mechanically  and  packed  up  the  camp- 
stuff  while  she  finished  her  own  preparations ;  she  was 
always  very  slow  when  obliged  to  use  her  hands.  Jimmy 
watched  her  when  he  was  through.  "  Don't  be  frightened," 
he  said,  "if  you  hear  another  shot.  I  have  to  dispose  of — 
his  —  horse,  over  there  waiting." 

"  Not  shoot  it !  You  would  n't  shoot  a  horse !  Don't  we 
need  another  horse  ?  " 

"  We  don't  need  that  horse." 

He  went  away  out  of  sight  and  presently  a  pistol-shot 
was  heard,  followed  by  a  trampling  and  a  crash  in  the 
bushes ;  —  chokeberries  and  juniper  grew  thick  on  the 
mountain. 

"  What  a  waste !  "  thought  Stella  ;  "a  good  horse  ;  bet- 
ter perhaps  than  ours."  Her  own  had  a  beastly  gait,  as  if 
his  feet  were  buckets.  The  dead  creature's  master  had  come 
with  designs  upon  them  and  their  property ;  it  was  cer- 
tainly overstrained  of  Jimmy — inexplicable,  truly.  There 
was  no  keeping  up  with  the  notions  of  that  dismal  crew. 


216  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Their  horses  scenting  grass  and  water  went  plunging 
down  the  trail.  The  little  river  ran  low  and  quiet  so  late 
in  the  year,  but  a  wistful  peace  was  there,  and  lean,  gray 
trees  like  hermits  brooded  in  the  shadow  of  the  deep  hills  ; 
only  their  tops  at  this  hour  caught  a  fringe  of  light. 

Jimmy  made  coffee  and  they  drank  cup  after  cup 
greedily  in  silence.  Stella  then  said  what  she  felt  the 
occasion  demanded:  "I  am  very  sorry  you  had  that  thing 
to  do;  it  must  have  been  horrid.  And  you  are  not  used 
to  such  things.  I  know  I  'm  not  worth  it  —  any  of  it  —  to 
you?" 

The  question  won  from  Jimmy  no  denial.  She  sighed. 

"  How  mistaken  people  are  about  us  !  Once  I  used  to 
think  myself  that  you  liked  me  a  little,  but  you  don't  any 
more.  You  rather  hate  me  —  though  I  don't  know  how  I 
have  ever  injured  you?" 

"  You  are  quite  wrong,  of  course ;  it  would  be  worse 
than  absurd  to  hate  you." 

"  You  mean  that  I  am  not  worthy  of  your  hate  ?  It 's 
extraordinary  how  men  do  change  as  soon  as  they  get  the 
upper  hand  of  us." 

He  did  not  answer :  he  was  in  the  back-wash  of  that 
current  of  fatalities  which  had  swept  him  over  the  brink 
of  an  experience  that  could  not  leave  him  the  same.  It 
was  a  terrific  plunge.  There  was  nothing  casual  to  him 
in  the  killing  of  a  man  before  breakfast  and  he  did  not 
want  any  breakfast,  but  he  was  far  from  confusing  the 
visual  memory  of  certain  details  inseparable  from  the  act 
itself,  with  remorse  for  what  he  had  done.  His  cause  to 
him  held  good :  his  chance  had  been  one  in  a  thousand 
and  he  was  alive  by  the  chance  ;  yet  he  had  been  alone  for 
a  long  time  with  that  silent  thing  he  had  made  of  Brad- 


ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH  SIDES    217 

burn,  which  he  supposed  he  never  should  cease  to  see.  A 
profound  desolation,  a  homesickness  of  the  soul  drew  him 
back  to  lay  the  case  before  his  father,  his  boyhood's  judge. 
There  was  the  cooler  necessity,  when  he  came  to  think  it 
out,  of  ending  the  predicament  those  friends  were  left  in  ; 
not  knowing  how  long  to  wait,  nor  even  whether  to  expect 
him.  Bradburn  might  not  have  lied  ;  the  situation  was  one 
too  dangerous  to  risk,  on  the  chance  that  he  had. 

"  Jimmy,  won't  you  tell  me  something  ?  —  you  don't  hes- 
itate to  say  things.  I  have  been  wondering  ever  since  we 
started  what  did  induce  you  to  take  this  upon  you  ?  Bar- 
bie thinks  you  are  doing  it  all  for  me."  -  -  Jimmy  began  to 
listen.  "  She  little  knows  the  truth  as  we  know  it !  —  as 
you  grind  it  into  me  every  hour  of  the  day.  You  hale  me 
along  as  if  you  were  both  arms  of  the  law.  Is  it  for  your 
father  —  to  hold  up  his  arms?  You  make  a  wonderful 
combination,  you  two,  considering  there 's  no  law  but  your 
own  sweet  wills  within  a  thousand  miles  of  us.  I  have 
about  as  much  chance,  have  n't  I,  as  a  blind  kitten  in  a 
bag  going  to  be  drowned  !  " 

Potations  of  strong  hot  coffee,  after  a  fast  and  hungry 
ride,  were,  telling  upon  Stella's  exhausted  system ;  for  the 
moment  she  was  practically  intoxicated.  The  blood  flew  to 
her  face  with  the  force  of  her  own  excited  imagery  and 
with  expectation  of  the  counter-stroke.  It  did  not  come. 
Jimmy  gave  her  a  long,  unseeing  stare. 

"  Well,  can't  you  even  speak  to  me  ?  am  I  thin  air  ? 
Abuse  me  —  you  know  I  'm  used  to  it ;  say  anything !  — 
Thousands  of  miles  of  this  awful  silence,  and  you,  too ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Jimmy,  rousing,  "  there  's  a  great  deal  of 
truth  in  what  you  say,  if  it  would  do  any  good,  you  know. 
It 's  the  journey  that 's  such  a  brute.  Now  we  're  come  to 


218  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

a  place  where  I  think  we  can  turn  around.  I  shall  not 
'  hale '  you  on  this  road  any  further  ;  we  are  going  back 
to  them.  Hold  on  a  moment ! "  He  saw  her  face  redden 
with  surprise  and  resistance.  She  threw  out  her  hands,  a 
gesture  common  with  her. 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  '11  have  to  leave  this  to  me  altogether. 
There  are  too  many  reasons  to  tell  you  now ;  some  of  them 
—  "  he  stopped  discouraged.  "  Well,  can  't  you  just  let 
me  decide?" 

"  I  can  't  think  what  you  mean !  Is  this  a  child's  picnic  ? 
Can  we  go  home  when  we  are  tired  ?  Please  ask  yourself 
why  we  are  here  and  what  you  are  going  to  do  with  me ! 
I  'm  not  exactly  a  bundle  on  your  back.  As  for  what  I 
said  just  now ;  —  you  get  cross  sometimes  yourself.  If  it 's 
to  spare  me  —  we  'd  have  to  go  twice  as  fast  that  way  to 
overtake  them  now.  I  never  could  do  it :  you  'd  kill  the 
horses  and  kill  me." 

"  Which  shall  I  answer  first  ?  You  won't  go  back,  and 
it  would  kill  you  if  you  tried  ?  I  will  say  to  the  first,  there 
is  no  choice  —  if  you  and  I  stay  together,  and  I  shall  not 
leave  you  on  the  road.  To  the  second :  I  can  't  tell  you 
how  I  know,  but  I  do  know  they  are  waiting  for  us  now, 
in  Grande  Konde  Valley.  We  must  go  back  —  for  one 
thing,  to  put  them  out  of  their  uncertainty :  they  have 
been  told  to  expect  us." 

"Well,  this  is  a  very  strange  thing." 

"  It  is  —  much  stranger  than  I  can  possibly  explain  to 
you." 

"Are  you  'in  league  with  powers  of  the  air,'  that  you 
can  tell  what  they  are  doing  in  Grande  Ronde  Valley  and 
we  here? —  or,  did  you  plan  all  this  before  we  started? " 

Stella's  mind  was  of  such  an  order  that  she  could  credit 


ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH   SIDES    219 

the  theory  of  Jimmy,  in  collusion  with  the  other  men  of 
the  party,  —  leaving  out  her  simple-minded  uncle,  and 
Bradburn,  a  bird  of  a  different  feather  not  likely  to  make 
one  in  their  counsels,  —  planning  a  farcical  journey  to 
satisfy  the  man  of  God,  and  give  time  for  remorse  and 
reflection  and  rebellion  to  do  their  work.  In  a  flash  she 
pictured  herself  the  central  figure,  the  wronged  heroine  of 
this  drama ;  but  in  another  flash  the  dream  faded  in  con- 
flict with  certain  details  of  hopeless  reality.  She  had 
abandoned  the  wild  dream  even  before  Jimmy  could  de- 
prive her  of  it,  wondering  always  at  the  complexion  of  her 
thoughts. 

"  Well,  then,"  she  said,  "  I  must  tell  you  plainly  I  can't 
believe  it  because  it 's  impossible.  It  really  scares  me  to 
hear  you  talk  so !  You  must  have  worked  yourself  up  into 
a  state  of  mind ;  people  do  sometimes,  they  say,  crossing 
high  mountains.  It  is  one  of  those  hallucinations." 

Jimmy  —  of  the  shattered  wits  —  smiled  at  her.  It  was 
enough ;  they  came  to  close  quarters  at  once. 

"  You  must  have  got  word  through  that  man,  then,  who 
followed  us  ?  You  have  never  told  me  —  " 

"  —  And  you  had  better  not  ask,"  he  cut  her  off. 

She  warped  back  to  her  first  and  strongest  argument : 
"They  may  be  waiting  for  you;  they  will  be  anxious 
enough  about  you,  of  course!  your  father  never  meant 
this  to  fall  on  his  beloved  son.  For  my  part,  I  'd  rather 
die  on  the  road  than  ever  see  one  of  their  faces  again ;  — 
except  one.  And  him  I  don't  want  bad  enough  to  go  chas- 
ing back  after  him.  No,  if  he  wants  me  now  he  can  come 
and  get  me." 

This  was  enigmatical ;  Jimmy  did  not  pause  on  it ;  his 
brain  was  tired  and  numb. 


220  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  We  have  n't  time  to  go  on  with  this  sort  of  thing, 
Stella.  It  must  answer  for  the  present  that  I  tell  you 
there  is  no  other  thing  for  you  and  me  to  do.  What  will 
come  of  it,  I  can't  say.  Only,  there  is  no  human  situation 
that  does  n't  change  :  however  it  was  when  we  left  them, 
it  will  be  sure  to  be  different  now." 

"  You  may  as  well  say  it  then !  you  are  going  back 
and  if  I  don't  go,  you  wash  your  hands  of  me  right  here 
on  the  road.  I  might  have  known  how  it  would  end.  Your 
nerve  has  given  out ;  something  has  upset  you ;  I  can  see 
that.  You  want  to  go  back  ;  you  want  to  explain  to  Barbie 
that  it  isn't  for  me.  I  don't  believe  one  word  of  that 
story  about  their  waiting.  It 's  a  trumped-up  excuse." 

"You  think  that  I  am  lying,  so  as  to  be  a  coward,  or 
desert  you?"  Jimmy  breathed  deep  and  smiled  at  her  again. 
"  This  is  pretty  cheap  for  even  our  style  of  argument ;  and 
it 's  so  far  from  the  truth  that  my  heart  aches  for  you !  " 

"  Oh,  thank  you !  I  don't  care  about  your  heart.  I  know 
who  it  aches  for.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  I'd  sooner 
go  on  alone  than  take  one  step  back  with  you  in  that 
direction.  Perhaps  some  kind  Blackfoot  will  pick  me  up 
and  give  me  courage  to  use  my  last  way  out.  He  might 
even  be  human — if  he  isn't  Christian  —  and  take  me 
where  I  want  to  go.  I  never  meant  to  stay  at  Fort  Hall ; 
I  expected  to  stand  out  on  that  when  we  got  there.  Fort 
Bridger  is  the  place  where  he  wants  me  to  go.  You  need 
not  look  at  me,  Jimmy.  What  I  said  last  night  was  rage ! 
I  was  beside  myself.  Every  one  of  their  backs  I  hated 
when  they  rode  away  —  his  the  worst  of  all.  I  would  n't 
see  him  or  let  him  speak — I  tore  his  letter  and  wrote 
back  the  meanest  things  I  could  think  of.  And  how  much 
better  am  I  off !  Oh,  I  have  come  to  my  senses.  My  traitor 


ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH  SIDES    221 

is  human  —  he 's  a  man,  not  a  monster  of  righteousness.  He 
will  forgive  me,  and  follow  me  there  — where  his  letter  said 
I  should  go.  I  can't  disobey  him  now.  He  is  with  me  all  the 
the  time.  I  shut  my  eyes  and  see  him  —  Jimmy  !  What, 
Jimmy?" 

With  a  cry  she  turned  as  he  dropped  down  beside  her 
and  took  her  hands  in  his.  They  looked  at  each  other  one 
long,  tremendous  instant  — 

"  I  am  sorry,  terribly  sorry  for  you.  But  if  you  won't 
trust  me  without  the  truth,  then  here  is  the  truth.  There 
is  no  one  who  will  meet  you  at  Fort  Bridger  or  anywhere 
on  this  road.  He  is  out  of  the  world.  I  could  n't  know 
you  cared  for  him  —  after  what  you  said.  But  it  would  n't 
have  changed  anything.  I  was  bound  to  do  by  you  as  I 
would  by  my  own  —  very  sister.  If  you  had  been  mine  I 
should  have  shot  him  without  a  word  —  " 

"  Then  you  did  ! " 

"  I  did  :  —  not  without  a  word,  many  words.  I  had  to 
do  it." 

"  That  was  the  man  who  followed  us  ?  And  I  never 
knew !  You  let  me  talk  like  that,  and  he  was  there  all  the 
time !  Came  after  me  and  you  never  told  me  !  I  don't  know 
why  I  don't  shoot  you  !  He  was  —  " 

Her  face  turned  sickly  in  the  play  of  sunlight  through 
the  shifting  leaves;  as  he  caught  her  by  the  arms,  she  sank 
away  from  him  and  lay  over  in  the  grass.  The  black  alders 
across  the  ford  leaned  towards  them  in  a  listening  group ; 
there  were  hushed  rustlings  up  the  bank  as  of  late  com- 
ers to  a  meeting  where  proceedings  had  begun.  After  the 
silence  of  the  skeleton  plains,  all  this  wooded  passage 
teemed  with  inanimate  life,  curious,  participant,  and  in  a 
subtle  way  communicative. 


222  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

It  had  been  in  Stella's  mind,  when  the  darkness  came 
over  her,  to  thank  him  with  telling  irony  for  having  slain 
the  father  of  her  child.  Blow  for  blow.  Amazing,  ignorant 
boy ;  she  would  turn  him  over  to  nature  and  let  her  teach 
him  a  few  of  her  facts  that  he  should  remember !  He  who 
had  called  her  fool,  and  whipped  her  horse  under  her  as 
if  she  were  a  common  burden,  and  visited  upon  her  every 
speech  that  jarred,  or  punished  her  with  his  sullenness ! 
This,  the  revenge  of  the  weak,  she  had  been  about  to  take 
when  her  breath  came  thick  and  all  grew  dark.  It  might 
have  been  thought  transference,  or  he  may  have  made  the 
discovery  for  himself;  but  the  shock  came  to  him  pre- 
cisely as  she  had  planned.  This,  then,  was  the  meaning 
of  his  father's  words  which  he  had  taken  for  oratory : 
"  The  woman  cannot  hide  her  sin."  He  was  dealing  with 
laws  he  had  no  knowledge  of  except  that  to  all  civilized 
manhood  a  woman  in  her  case  is  sacred.  Even  so  slight 
a  creature  as  this  "  carries  destinies  in  her  mantle  " ;  yet 
on  this  nightmare  of  a  march  he  must  either  coax  or  drive. 
He  wondered  what  hold  there  was  left  upon  her  curious 
mind,  and  if,  knowing  it,  he  could  dare  to  use  it  ?  He 
was  working  against  nature  in  the  dark. 

A  hard  journey  is  the  best  of  opiates.  Stella  did  not 
wish  to  die  except  when  she  felt  too  tired  to  live ;  her  ex- 
hausted system  made  such  heavy  demands  for  itself  that 
the  brain  went  to  sleep ;  memory  was  cheated.  And  she 
was  a  woman  who  could  weep  and  always,  insanely,  she 
could  talk :  Jimmy  took  it  out  of  himself  in  being  forced  to 
listen. 

He  resumed  his  leadership,  but  timidly ;  their  progress 
was  fatally  slow,  and  what  his  thoughts  made  him  suffer 
in  the  long,  silent  hours  of  the  day's  march,  imagining 


ENLIGHTENMENT  ON  BOTH  SIDES    223 

the  cost  of  this  delay  to  those  who  were  waiting  for  them, 
we  need  not  attempt  to  say. 

He  now  insisted  on  the  precaution  Bradburn  had  re- 
minded him  of:  no  good  camper  in  an  Indian  country 
sleeps  by  his  fire  or  on  the  spot  where  he  makes  his  first 
halt;  having  eaten  he  creeps  away  to  the  shelter  of  the 
dark.  This  simple  mano3uvre  Jimmy  had  abandoned  out 
of  sheer  inability  to  control  Stella's  actions  ;  hence  his  ex- 
hausting night-watches.  But  he  found  her  more  docile  now : 
half  the  time  she  seemed  to  be  in  a  swoon  of  weariness  or 
drowned  in  a  feeble  sort  of  despair.  He  believed  the  chance 
was  small  of  their  continued  immunity  from  Indian  alarms  ; 
but  he  was  not  posted  on  the  temper  of  the  tribes,  and  '42 
was  before  the  army  of  invasion  that  started  the  next  year 
had  alarmed  them  as  to  the  future  of  their  own  possessions ; 
before  the  chiefs  of  distant  nations  would  travel  for  many 
moons,  to  gaze  astonished  on  that  highway  of  destiny  which 
they  named  the  "Great  Medicine  Road  of  the  Whites," 
and  then  silently  creep  away  to  join  their  confederates. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  CAMP  OF  WAITING 

IN  those  transmontane  valleys,  at  the  dry  summer's 
close,  sunsets  are  generally  cloudless.  After  the  sun  is 
gone,  the  last  peaks  against  him  smoulder  and  recede  in 
veils  of  pearl;  the  nearer  ranges  suddenly  grow  dark. 
Pines  that  pencil  the  edges  of  their  heights  give  to  those 
lonely  spots  a  fabulous  appearance  of  crowded  spires  in 
dead,  Gothic  cities  of  the  past.  If  there  should  be  any 
cloud,  it  floats,  a  chain  of  purple  islets  beached  with  gold, 
low  in  the  tropic  regions  of  the  color  sea  that  sweeps 
to  the  zenith's  blue,  where  we  watch  for  the  first  star. 
Intense  as  the  radiance  is,  lighting  up  faces  of  gazers  like 
scenic  fire,  it  has  a  mysterious  quality  of  aloofness  which 
chills  the  heart.  It  reminds  us  of  the  difference  between 
a  living  love,  with  all  its  human  shortcomings,  and  that 
love  made  perfect  through  the  longings  of  absence  or 
death. 

Every  one  who  has  known  suspense  knows  the  passion 
of  this  hour.  It  was  then  the  minister,  with  no  house  to 
hide  in,  would  go  away  off  and  walk  by  himself  up  and 
down,  up  and  down.  He  had  his  Bible  always,  so  rich  in 
the  language  of  lamentation,  in  which  to  clothe  his  lonely 
anguish:  he  was  David  in  the  chamber  over  the  gate;  but 
no  one  came  running  of  whom  he  could  ask,  "  Is  the  young 
man  Absalom  well?"  But  if  ever  tears  brought  relief  to 
his  burning,  sleepless  eyes,  they  came  with  the  whispered, 


THE  CAMP  OF  WAITING  225 

immortal  cry,  "  Would  God  I  had  died  for  thee,  my  son, 
my  son ! " 

It  was  Barbie's  mission,  when  cooking  smells  began  to 
spread  on  the  evening  air,  to  call  him  in  to  supper.  He 
seldom  answered  her  first  call  and  she  would  walk  at  his 
side  in  silence.  She  had  full  courage  to  approach  him ; 
his  grief  was  hers  and  this,  without  words,  he  partly  real- 
ized and  the  comfort  of  it  was  very  great.  If  he  could 
have  brought  himself  to  speak  of  Jimmy,  he  would  have 
told  her  the  boy's  secret  now,  unaware  that  nature  had 
been  before  him  and  disposed  already  of  those  high  con- 
siderations discussed  between  father  and  son.  What  he 
constantly  did  crave  was  some  assurance  from  the  girl's 
own  lips,  closed  in  a  silence  he  could  but  approve,  that 
Jimmy  was  forgiven  even  as  matters  now  stood.  It  had 
been  such  a  little,  boyish  wrong,  many  would  say,  but  not 
Mr.  Yardley,  —  a  gentleman  before  he  was  a  minister. 
His  son  had  made  a  girl  understand  that  he  loved  her,  no 
matter  how ;  he  had  put  himself  in  a  position  to  learn  the 
secrets  of  her  heart :  with  that  knowledge  between  them 
he  had  let  the  matter  drop.  Scorn  was  the  only  answer  he 
deserved,  but  love  is  not  logical  at  nineteen.  Why,  in 
speaking  to  his  father,  were  her  tones  so  delicate,  fraught 
with  unspoken  meanings  full  of  anguished  tenderness? 
He  could  not  question  her.  She  was  as  unapproachable  to 
him  as  the  evening  star.  Barbie  did  not  dream  what  he 
wanted.  Although  in  his  spiritual  office  the  recipient  of 
so  many  confidences  affecting  others,  his  own  personal 
trials  were  wrapped  in  complete  reserve.  No  one  ventured 
to  talk  to  the  minister  about  himself. 

"Will  you  come  to  supper,  Mr.  Yardley?"  Barbie  re- 
peated the  invitation  and  urged  it  with  some  impatience. 


226  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"Will  you  please  to  come?  Supper  is  ready,  and  this  is 
mother's  birthday.  She 's  forgotten  it  herself ;  we  want  to 
be  all  there  to  accuse  her  of  it." 

The  last  words  penetrated.  "  Your  mother's  birthday  ? 
Then  /  must  have  had  one  yesterday.  I  believe  we  are  the 
same  age,  fifty-nine,  lacking  one  day." 

"  Mother  is  fifty-eight,  is  n't  she  ?  She  has  been  telling 
us  for  almost  a  year  that  she  was  '  going  on '  fifty-eight. 
What  a  joke  if  she's  been  mistaken  all  the  time  !  Let's  go 
and  ask  her  if  she  knows  how  old  she  is." 

Silence  met  them,  rosy  with  fire  heat  and  redolent  of  ham. 

"  Mother,  dear,  do  you  know  how  old  you  are  ?  Mr. 
Yardley  thinks  you  are  his  age, —  fifty-nine." 

"  I  should  n't  like  to  contradict,  but  I  'm  afraid  Mr. 
Yardley's  a  trifle  out  of  the  way :  I  believe  I  'in  pretty 
close  to  fifty-eight.  Father,  what  day  of  the  month  is  it  ?  " 

"Now,  mummy,  don't  try  to  make  yourself  out  younger 
than  you  are.  You  've  been  fifty-eight  all  this  whole  day, 
so  now  you  must  be  '  going  on '  fifty-nine.  You  've  been 
cooking  your  own  birthday  supper  —  I  never  in  my  life 
smelled  anything  so  good!  Why  don't  we  always  have  ham 
for  supper?" 

"Because  this  is  the  very  last  one,"  complained  the  chief 
of  commissary.  "  I  wondered  why  father  insisted  on  my 
cutting  it!"  She  was  quite  peevish  with  them  all,  stand- 
ing and  smiling  at  her ;  being  on  a  strain  in  other  ways, 
surprises  jarred  her  nerves.  "Really,  I  can't  see  what 
there  is  to  make  a  fuss  over  in  growing  old.  We  don't  de- 
serve much  credit  for  it." 

"  We  make  a  fuss  because  you  don't  grow  old,"  Mr. 
Hannington  gallantly  rejoined,  without  appeasing  her. 
"  Does  she  look  a  day  over  forty-five?" 


THE   CAMP   OF  WAITING  227 

Silence  ignored  him.  "Barbie,  just  run  over  to  Mrs. 
Kiersted's  with  this  plate.  It 's  hot,  child  !  wrap  a  towel 
around  it.  That  little  woman  scarcely  cooks  anything  for 
herself  since  Sam  went.  Now,  we  won't  wait  for  Barbie." 

The  talk  lingered  upon  ages  of  persons  they  knew  or 
might  be  said  to  have  known  in  the  past  so  far  behind 
them ;  how  some  held  their  own  and  some  had  wasted  away 
like  April  snow. 

"  Years  have  n't  much  to  do  with  age  up  to  a  certain 
point,"  said  Silence. 

"  Well,  I  guess  you  have  n't  reached  that  point,"  Alvin 
persisted. 

Discussing  his  own  family  before  company  was  one  of 
the  deacon's  little  weaknesses  ;  he  had  often  been  discour- 
aged in  it,  —  enough  to  make  him  feel  guilty,  but  he  went  on 
with  astonishing  hardihood,  even  dragging  in  Barbie,  who 
had  returned  and  was  listening,  amused  at  her  mother's 
face. 

"I  was  saying  —  your  mother's  making  up  to  us  for 
keeping  out  of  the  scrape  so  long.  Nearly  six  years  she  had 
me  on  a  string  —  steady  business,  too.  She  was  pretty  near 
an  old  maid  before  she  would  take  me.  And  here  she  looks 
like  a  girl  still !  " 

"  I  'd  be  sorry  for  the  girl,"  Mrs.  Hannington  retorted. 

In  the  next  pause  Mr.  Yardley  asked,  with  his  detached 
manner,  out  of  his  own  thoughts  apparently,  — 

"  Was  it  one,  or  two  children  you  lost  as  infants  ?  I  can 
only  remember  you  with  one  child." 

There  is  scarcely  any  age  when  a  question  like  this 
cannot  make  a  woman's  heart  turn  over  with  a  mute 
groan. 

"Two — boys,"  was  the  answer  briefly.    "  They  were 


228  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

not  infants  :  little  Edward  was  three  and  a  half  and  Alvy 
was  two/' 

"  And  Barbie  was  born —  ?  " 

"  The  year  you  took  Mr.  Whitehead's  place.  She  gave 
me  back  what  father  calls  my  youth :  —  pure  comfort  she 
was,  from  the  first.  We  talked  some  of  giving  her  your 
name,  —  Recompense, — it  just  fitted  so,  but  we  didn't 
know  how  you  would  feel  about  it ;  and  I  never  liked  my 
own  name — "  Silence  checked  herself  with  a  glance  at 
Barbie,  whose  mirthful  eyes  were  upon  her. 

"  I  remember  her,"  said  the  minister ;  "  a  pretty  child." 

"  We  thought  so." 

"  Well,  she  's  got  bravely  over  it,"  said  the  deacon. 

Barbie  smiled  at  her  father 's  customary  jocose  precau- 
tion :  she  knew  his"  private  opinion  of  her  looks.  But  it 
was  hollow  trifling.  The  old  allusions  and  the  old  jokes 
were  timid,  terrible  things.  They  would  have  been  quieter 
had  they  been  by  themselves.  This  galvanized  flow  of 
spirits  was  a  form  of  shyness  caused  by  the  minister's  pre- 
sence ;  he  was  now  their  daily  guest  at  meals. 

Alvin  rose  and  excused  himself,  saying  he  'd  go  and 
stretch  his  legs  a  little  before  bed,  and  remarked  for  the 
hundredth  time  that  he  wished  he  had  a  new  set  of  joints 
for  this  sitting-down  work.  Barbie,  from  where  she  sat, 
could  follow  him  with  her  eyes.  He  stood  still  a  while  fac- 
ing the  gate  of  the  little  hills,  then  turned  and  beckoned. 
Her  heart  flew,  but  she  walked  away  quietly.  Mrs.  Han- 
nington  saw  it  all,  pretending  superstitiously  to  think  there 
was  nothing  in  it,  —  specks  in  the  distance  that  would  turn 
out  to  be  a  bunch  of  antelope.  But  when  Barbie  came 
hurrying  back  for  her  father's  field-glass,  pale  and  refus- 
ing to  talk,  there  was  no  disguising  the  start  it  gave  them. 


THE  CAMP  OF  WAITING  229 

Two  or  three  men  pounded  past,  to  get  the  first  news ;  one 
calling  out  to  Mr.  Yardley:  "I  wouldn't  come  yet,  sir. 
We  '11  send  word  if  it 's  them." 

The  moments  lagged.  Silence  moved  about  clearing  away 
supper,  but  gave  it  up,  and  waited  helplessly. 

"  I  think,  if  you  '11  excuse  me,  Mrs.  Hannington,  I  '11 
walk  down  a  little  way." 

"  There  's  Barbie  now,"  said  Silence.  She  put  out  her 
hand  to  him  ;  supporting  each  other'they  walked  forward 
trembling. 

Barbie  had  seen  them  and  checked  her  run  to  a  walk 
gathering  breath  to  speak. 

"  It  is !  "  she  gasped  ;  "  they  are  coming." 

Mr.  Yardley  uncovered  his  head.  "  Is  the  young  man 
Absalom  —  ?  "  He  had  no  power  over  his  thoughts.  The 
women  waited  in  silence  with  their  eyes  down.  Then  he 
took  a  hand  of  each  and  said  brokenly,  "  If  this  be  true, 
let  us  thank  God,  for  His  infinite  mercy." 

"  Could  you  count  them,  Barbie  ?  "  Silence  whispered. 

"  Yes,  four  men  —  and  one  woman." 

"  They  can't  be  our  folks  I  " 

"  They  are  ;  the  woman  is  Stella." 

"  It  can't  be  !  "  Mrs.  Hannington  half  groaned. 

But  she  knew  by  Barbie's  face  that  it  was,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment the  news  became  old  and  familiar  to  her,  and  she  had 
begun  to  readjust  herself  to  the  load. 

"  Is  that  man  Bradburn  with  them  ?  " 

"  No,  Mr.  Yardley." 

"  Could  you  see  their  faces  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  faltering;  —  "Jimmy  is  there.  They  are 
coming  very  slowly.  One  of  them  is  a  woman  —  " 

"  What  woman  ?  "  Mr.  Yardley  demanded. 


230  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  She  seems  sick  or  very  tired  —  "  Barbie  answered, 
shirking  the  name. 

"  Then  it  is  Stella  !  " 

"  Yes,  mother.  She  can  hardly  ride ;  one  of  them  is 
leading  her  horse." 

"  That  will  be  Jimmy,"  thought  the  mother,  with  a  jeal- 
ous pang. 

"  Of  course  she  's  sick  "  —  she  spoke  aloud  confirming 
some  dread  in  her  own  mind ;  "  of  course  she  would  be 
sick!" 

"  We  cannot  settle  everything  beforehand,  my  friend. 
There  may  be  surprises  for  us  yet." 

"  Now  he  's  just  begging  the  question,"  thought  Silence. 
"All  I  hope  is,"  she  said  aloud,  "  we  don't  take  back  any 
of  our  thanks  because  she  is  with  them.  If  we  need  mercy, 
she  needs  it  more." 

"  You  hope  more  than  is  reasonable,  then,"  rejoined  the 
minister.  "  I  do  not  give  thanks  for  this  trial  sent  to  us 
again  and  I  will  not  pretend  to  before  the  Lord,  though 
I  trust  I  can  say,  Thy  will  be  done."  He  walked  away  with- 
out looking  at  them  ;  they  could  see  his  thin  hands  shaking. 

"  I  don't  blame  him  one  bit."  Barbie  spoke  first. 

"  Well  he  need  n't  call  other  folks  hypocrites." 

"  He  did  n't,  mother :  how  can  you  say  so !  " 

"  Why,  I  heard  him :  '  I  won't  pretend,'  he  said.  What 
does  pretending  mean  ?  " 

"  It  does  n't  matter.  We  feel  just  as  he  does,  if  we  would 
own  it.  He 's  not  afraid  for  himself." 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to  go  down  there  ?  There  ought  to 
be  one  of  us  to  meet  her.  All  those  men — " 

"  Father  's  there.  You  look  so  badly,  mother !  I  'm  sorry 
I  sided  with  Mr.  Yardley." 


THE  CAMP  OF  WAITING  231 

"  Well,  he  did  hurt  me,  I  must  say.  Of  course  I  dread 
her,  too,  but  we  can't  give  way  to  it.  There 's  got  to  be  some 
heart  in  it  or  it's  going  to  spoil  our  lives." 

"  There  '11  be  a  heart  in  it  —  a  broken  heart :  it  won't 
be  hers !  "  Barbie  seized  her  mother  and  dragged  her  into 
a  wild  embrace.  It  was  not  Silence's  moment  for  demon- 
strativeness ;  she  took  the  assault  passively. 

"  Well ;  with  all  we  are  to  one  another  —  three  of  us,  it 
does  seem  as  if  we  might  spare  a  little  to  that  poor  thing." 

"  She's  not  poor!  She  has  a  dreadful  power  and  she  '11 
have  it  always,  because  she  finds  the  weak  spot  in  every  one 
of  us." 

"Well,  Jimmy  is  here  alive  —  and  strong.  Isn't  that 
enough,  after  what  we  Ve  been  through  ?  I  can  take  up 
Stella  again  and  not  feel  her,  now  I  know  it's  all  right 
between  you  two." 

Whether  Mrs.  Hannington  supposed  that  her  God,  who 
was  a  jealous  God,  would  accept  this  form  of  barter  in  try- 
ing out  the  soul  of  woman  instead  of  sacrifice  for  its  own 
sake,  who  can  say  ?  They  believed  strange  things  and  took 
strange  liberties  with  their  belief  under  "  that  ancient  bat- 
tle-flag, the  Westminster  Confession." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


THE  women  were  standing  about  their  cooking-fires  wait- 
ing and  wondering  at  the  strange  behavior  of  the  men.  Wel- 
comes and  suppers  grew  cold.  Lottie  Kiersted  was  in  tears 
because  Sam  stayed  down  there  at  the  halting-place  with 
the  other  men  and  did  not  come  and  kiss  her  and  the  baby. 

"  That  little  fellow  belongs  in  bed,"  Aunt  Silence  ob- 
served impartially.  "  I  would  n't  keep  him  up  a  minute 
longer  for  any  one.  A  watched  pot  never  boils :  they  won't 
come  any  sooner  for  our  worrying.  I  suppose  they  are  ex- 
plaining to  Mr.  Yardley  about  Stella.  I  don't,  for  the  life 
of  me,  see  what  he  can  do  but  take  her  back !  There 's  a 
limit  to  all  things." 

"  They  are  coming ! "  said  Barbie,  releasing  a  long 
breath ;  but  it  was  only  her  father  and  Stella.  No  one 
moved  from  that  ominous  group  which  the  women  were 
watching.  They  had  seen  the  travellers  alight  and  turn 
loose  their  horses.  The  greetings  seemed  quiet  and  timid, 
on  Stella's  account  probably.  Sam  Kiersted  certainly 
would  have  been  heard  from  on  such  an  occasion,  under 
other  circumstances. 

Mr.  Hannington  came  on  supporting  Stella  at  a  slow 
walk ;  behind  them  the  tired  beasts  straggled,  girths  and 
packs  unloosed,  a  sign  alone  that  signified  some  serious 
preoccupation  in  their  riders.  Mrs.  Hannington  hurried 
forward,  and  at  sight  of  Stella  her  heart  swelled  against  the 
minister.  Could  he  be  human  and  hold  to  consistency  now ! 


THE  WOMEN'S  PART  233 

The  meeting  of  these  three  women  was  one  of  those  im- 
possible situations  which  admit  of  no  preparation  and  defy 
description.  The  neighbors  looked  on  a  moment  and  drew 
away,  exchanging  glances  upon  ptella's  appearance.  There 
was  a  deep  flush  of  pain  on  her  cheek-bones ;  her  eyes  re- 
fused to  meet  other  eyes ;  the  dust  was  thick  on  her  golden 
hair  welded  into  a  mass  by  heat  and  neglect  on  the  journey ; 
her  little  luxurious  hands  were  dirty  and  darkly  tanned 
like  a  lost  child's.  Aunt  Silence  gazed  at  her,  humbly :  we 
are  all  humbled  by  the  sight  of  suffering  which  is  beyond 
our  help.  Barbie's  heart  beat  fast.  She  and  her  mother 
between  them  helped  the  sick  girl  under  cover  and  put  her 
to  bed,  groaning. 

44  Go  and  call  your  father,"  Mrs.  Hannington  ordered 
sternly,  in  a  hoarse,  hurried  whisper. 

Alvin  had  been  looking  after  the  horses,  tagged  by  two 
or  three  women  asking  impossible  questions.  They  were  in- 
terested in  Barbie's  errand,  but  made  no  comments,  having 
regard  for  her  maiden  ignorance. 

Father  and  daughter  walked  back  together,  out  of  step, 
over  the  uneven  ground.  He  put  his  arm  through  hers  awk- 
wardly, an  unaccustomed  demonstration  which  alarmed 
Barbie,  who  saw  no  occasion  for  it. 

"Jimmy?  "  she  asked;  —  " he's  there  ?"  (She  knew  he 
was,  having  counted  him  and  picked  him  out  with  the  glass, 
but  Jimmy  was  at  the  bottom  of  all  her  fears.) 

"Yes ;  he 's  pretty  busy  now." 

44  Busy  ! " 

44  Yes,  giving  in  his  report,  so  to  say." 

Barbie  considered  the  word  :  her  father  did  not  use  im- 
portant terms  unless  his  mind  was  beclouded. 

"  Oh, he's  all  right.  Looks  thin, but  he  would,  of  course." 


234  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Father,  what  is  it  ?  What  keeps  them  down  there  so 
long?  What's  Jimmy  done?"  she  brought  it  out  at  last. 
It  was  Jimmy  they  were  examining,  not  Stella,  something 
told  her. 

"  It 's  just  a  case  that 's  a  little  hard  to  put  in  words  and 
be  fair  to  all  sides  of  it.  I  don't  believe  you  'd  better  know 
about  it,"  said  this  poor  intriguer. 

"  Why,  I  've  got  to  know  if  it 's  anything  about 
Jimmy." 

Mr.  Hannington  cleared  his  throat. 

"  Did  they  meet  ?  " 

"  Who  '  meet '  ?  " 

"  Did  Captain  Bradburn  overtake  them  ?  " 

"  Yes.  They  spent  the  night  on  a  hill  together  some- 
where —  " 

"All  three?" 

"  All  three  ;  and  they  settled  it  there  which  one  Stella 
was  to  go  on  with." 

"  One  of  them  did  not  leave  that  hill !  —  And  Jimmy  is 
here."  Barbie's  voice  sank  to  match  the  stillness  around 
them. 

—  "  What 's  that  ?  "  her  father  interrupted.  The  ques- 
tion answered  itself  ;  he  heard  a  woman  groaning  in  their 
tent. 

"  Is  Jimmy  on  his  defence  for  —  anything  that  hap- 
pened to  that  man  ?  —  I  want  to  know ! " 

"  Well,  Barbie,  we  're  law-abiding  folks  :  we  don't  do 
such  things.  There 's  a  great  deal  back  of  it,  and  Jimmy 
will  get  a  fair  hearing.  But  we  can't  take  it  as  a  matter 
of  course :  it  might  be  held  as  a  precedent." 

"  Father,  you  go  down  there  and  say  what  you  think 
about  this,  not  what  you  think  you  ought  to  think." 


THE   WOMEN'S   PART  235 

"I'm  going — but  your  mother  wants  me,  didn't  you 
say?" 

The  sounds  from  the  tent  grew  plainer. 

"  Oh,  of  course !  Stella  first !  She  is  the  scourge  of  this 
company.  This  is  what  she 's  made  Jimmy  do !  She 
could  n't  hurt  him  any  other  way." 

"  Don't  you  say  it,  daughter ;  don't  you  say  it.  Let 
some  one  say  it  who  has  n't  suffered  by  her." 

"  Who  is  there  among  us  who  has  n't  suffered  by  her  or 
won't  suffer  before  it 's  through  with?  " 

"  Hush,  child.  Let  the  minister  say  those  things." 

"Has  n't  he  suffered?" 

Barbie  took  her  mother's  place  and  mortified  her  spirit 
by  doing  menial  services  which  the  sick  require ;  she 
washed  the  fair  one's  feet,  handled  her  soiled  linen,  un- 
tangled her  hateful  hair.  Outside,  husband  and  wife  were 
holding  another  of  those  shameful  colloquies  over  Mary's 
child. 

"  She 's  been  over-doing  right  along  ;  no  woman  could 
stand  it  except  a  squaw.  Jimmy  could  n't  help  it,  though, 
of  course  she  blames  him.  I  can't  say  but  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  have  it  all  over  with  :  she 's  not  fit  to  be  a  mother." 

"  You  could  n't  prevent  it  now,  could  you,  even  with  a 
doctor?" 

"  No,  no.  Mr.  Yardley  need  n't  be  worried  about  this 
poor  little  seed  of  iniquity.  But  he  's  got  to  let  up  on  her 
for  a  while.  She  must  be  kept  stone-still  and  not  wor- 
ried—" 

"  Why,  what  you  talking  about,  mother  ?  What 's  Mr. 
Yardley  done?" 

"What  are  you  talking  about,  all  of  you  down  there?" 

"  Well,  not  about  Stella." 


236  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  What,  then  ?  " 

He  drew  her  off  and  while  she  listened  in  turbid  anxiety, 
he  disclosed  the  main  facts,  as  far  as  he  knew  them,  down 
to  this  moment  —  with  Jimmy  on  trial  for  Bradburn's 
death. 

"  Well ;  I  'm  glad  I  'm  not  a  man !  I  suppose  you  've 
got  to  find  some  name  to  call  it  by." 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Alvin.  "  That 's  the  difference  be- 
tween principles  and  no  principles,  —  what  name  you  call 
things  by." 

"Well;  when  you  come  to  our  affairs,  if  Mr.  Yardley 
says  anything  about  Stella,  you  tell  him,  father,  that 's  the 
women's  business.  If  he  's  planning  to  start  on  to-morrow, 
you  just  say  to  him  he  will  leave  our  family  behind.  That 
girl 's  not  going  to  be  moved,  not  till  she 's  had  a  few 
days'  rest,  however  you  fix  it." 

"  Well,  of  all  things  in  this  world!"  said  the  "forgotten 
man,"  "  if  this  is  n't  the  cap-sheaf !  I  never  did  see  the 
beat.  There  must  be  something  very  strange  going  to 
come  of  this  move,  the  way  we  are  handled  right  along." 

"  We  'd  be  foolish  to  judge  the  end  by  the  beginning," 
argued  his  wife.  "  We  've  seen  many  a  fair  day  start  out 
with  a  cloudy  morning." 

But  it  was  only  through  the  family  habit  of  discussion 
that  she  rebuked  her  husband's  despair.  She  thought  of 
the  lone  wagon  they  met  on  the  Kansas  plains,  with  its 
hood-face  turned  the  other  way. 

"  Ah,  but  that  was  their  own  child  !  What  was  Oregon 
to  them  ?  "  When  a  great  sacrifice  is  demanded,  it  makes 
all  the  difference  on  whose  account  it  is,  and  the  cost 
weighs  in  proportion  to  other  things.  Here  was  her  hus- 
band, a  middle-aged  man  in  debt,  homeless  between  east 


THE   WOMEN'S   PART  237 

and  west,  with  his  life  to  begin  all  over  again  ;  and  here 
was  their  daughter  whose  future  would  be  spoiled,  or 
parted  from  her  parents  in  their  declining  days  ;  and  there 
was  the  minister  who  would  miss  his  old  friends,  the  ones 
closest  to  him  in  age  and  in  every  relation,  private  and 
parochial  — 

"  Poor,  poor  man !  how  I  did  misjudge  him.  I  wish 
I  was  n't  always  so  hasty." 

"Who,  mother?" 

"  Why,  the  minister.  To  think  of  it  —  his  own  son  !  — 
and  such  a  boy  as  Jimmy.  He  would  n't  judge  the  case 
himself,  you  say  ?  " 

"  Handed  him  right  over  to  the  committee,"  said  Alvin, 
with  pride  in  the  pastor's  purity.  "He  never  excused 
him,  nor  begged  for  him  by  one  word." 

"  And  Jimmy  ?  how  does  he  seem  ?  " 

"  Just  the  same  :  I  guess  he 's  pretty  hungry.  Looks  as 
gaunt  as  a  hound." 

Silence  flamed  out  at  the  bare  suggestion  of  such  re- 
finement of  cruelty.  "  Well,  I  do  think,  among  you  all  — 
that 's  a  little  too  much !  Badgering  the  boy  without  any 
supper.  If  you  're  going  to  condemn  him,  do  let  him  eat 
first  and  see  his  friends.  You  know  it 's  all  a  farce  any- 
way ;  there  is  n't  one  of  you  would  n't  have  done  the  same 
if  you  'd  felt  able  for  it.  Would  you  have  let  that  scoundrel 
run  you  out  of  your  own  camp  and  take  what  was  put  in 
your  charge,  if  it  was  only  a  dog? " 

"  Why,  no,"  Alvin  retorted  pleasantly ;  "  unless  I  was 
so  plaguey  anxious  to  get  quit  of  the  whole  business  I 
snapped  up  the  first  chance." 

"  Well,  Jimmy  stuck  to  his  orders,  and  now  you  're  lay- 
ing it  up  to  him  for  a  crime." 


238  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Why,  no,  mother ;  nobody  is  doing  any  such  thing. 
There 's  always  an  investigation.  I  wish  I  could  have 
taken  the  job  and  spared  the  boy,  but  if  I  had  and  it 
came  out  this  way,  I  would  expect  to  be  questioned  pretty 
sharp.  Jimmy  expects  it,  you  may  be  sure.  If  he  'd  wanted 
to  run  away  from  it,  the  road  was  open.  I  think  he  looks 
happy ;  he 's  done  the  work.  He  did  n't  do  it  to  get 
praised." 

"  Mother,"  called  Barbie,  "  could  you  come  ?  " 

They  heard  Stella  groaning  and  crying ;  their  own 
voices  ceased.  Mr.  Haimington  started  on  hurriedly,  then 
came  back  to  say,  "  If  you  want  me  —  what  did  you 
want?" 

"  Just  for  you  to  say  to  Mr.  Yardley  what  I  said  ;  we 
can't  go  on  across  any  mountains  to-morrow.  If  it 's  best 
for  the  others,  we  've  got  no  right  to  detain  them.  Don't 
you  go  and  beg  them  to  stay  for  us,  will  you?" 

"  I  guess  not !  "  said  Alvin. 

They  parted  satisfied  with  each  other,  and  Silence  re- 
turned to  her  patient. 

Stella  lay  an  unmanageable  heap  of  dishevelled  woman- 
hood, half  on  the  pallet,  half  on  the  canvas-covered  ground. 
Her  rich  hair  unbraided  its  full  length,  hid  like  a  cloth  of 
gold  the  coarse  cotton  pillow  (one  did  n't  use  one's  best 
linen  in  these  emigrant  camps).  She  tossed  incessantly 
and  writhed  in  apparent  agony. 

"  I  can't  undress  her  alone,"  Barbie  explained  softly. 
"  She 's  almost  in  convulsions." 

"  Nothing  of  the  sort !  "  Her  mother's  matter-of-fact 
tone  astonished  the  amateur. 

Stella  began  talking  wildly  as  soon  as  she  perceived  a 
fresh  listener. 


THE   WOMEN'S   PART  239 

"  I  did  n't  mean  to  come  back.  Jimmy  made  me !  Don't 
I  know  none  of  you  ever  wanted  me  ?  He  came  after  me 
and  Jimmy  shot  him.  Oh,  how  I  hate  this  whole  world ! 
It 's  a  torture-chamber,  and  you  can't  die." 

"  What  are  these  things  ?  "  Silence  opened  the  pill-box 
which  she  had  discovered  in  Stella's  clothing.  Stella 
glanced  at  it  and  was  dumb. 

"  Was  that  what  he  gave  you  '  for  snake-bite '  ?  " 

"  It  was  —  for  Indians,"  Stella  choked  out,  —  "  if  we 
were  taken  —  alive." 

"  H'um,"  said  Silence,  "  I  've  heard  of  those  pills  - 
*  for  Indians.'    Well,  Stella ;  I  can  understand  how  you 
feel  about  living.    If  you  want  to  take  one  of  these  now, 
or  all  of  them  and  have  it  over  with,  no  one  is  going  to 
prevent  you." 

Stella,  it  appeared,  felt  hurt  by  this  invitation ;  whether 
genuine  or  ironic,  it  left  nothing  to  be  said. 

"  Very  well,  then.  Now,  let  me  tell  you :  this  is  only 
the  beginning,  and  it  can  be  borne.  You  won't  have  near 
so  hard  a  time  as  others  do."  Silence  told  her  why  — 
"  Now,  if  you  are  able  to  talk  about  '  torture-chambers,' 
you  are  able  to  stop  screaming  like  a  wild  animal.  You 
have  a  will  —  enough  to  keep  you  alive  at  any  rate :  you 
better  try  to  use  it." 

This  summing-up  left  Stella  in  a  passion  of  resentment 
which  did  duty,  momentarily,  for  courage.  There  was  a 
bitter  silence. 

"  Barbie,  don't  cry  so!   Go  out  and  get  some  air." 

"  Mother,  you  are  so  hard." 

"Well,  you  see  it's  done  her  good,"  Silence  fiercely 
whispered.  To  have  Barbie  break  down  was  the  last  straw. 
"  Now,  go  away ;  go  and  help  Lottie  Kiersted,  or  let  her 


240  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

come  and  help  me,  and  you  go  over  there  and  cook  sup- 
per. Those  men  have  got  to  be  fed  somewhere  ;  we  can't 
have  anybody  here." 

Barbie  had  an  acute  remembrance  since  childhood  of 
those  tones  in  her  mother's  voice.  She  had  the  need  and 
the  expectation  of  unvarying  love  and  approval  from  that 
mighty  woman  which  made  it  a  shattering  experience  to 
have  the  gulfs  of  her  sudden  anger  sweep  you  down ;  to 
have  the  flashes  of  her  censure  light  up  the  blackness 
of  a  home  in  ruins.  These  were  domestic  paroxysms  not 
so  far  back  in  the  past  of  her  twenty  years ;  they  were 
not  of  impossible  recurrence  even  now.  Incredible  as  it 
seemed,  she  found  herself  on  Stella's  side,  for  once,  against 
her  own  mother,  who  showed  in  such  a  strange  light  as  a 
comforter  in  this  supreme  extremity.  There  is  nothing 
like  the  philosophy  that  experience  breeds. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


THE  men,  when  Deacon  Hannington  left  them,  were 
seated,  knee  to  knee,  on  the  ground  amidst  some  leafless 
willows  where  a  stream  enters  the  valley  at  the  base  of 
those  interlapping  hills.  The  spot  was  charmless ;  it 
merely  shut  them  in  from  observation,  and  the  little  run- 
let at  this  season  was  too  low  to  interrupt  their  talk.  In 
spring  it  had  been  a  tearing  torrent  and  these  sticks  and 
broken  limbs  of  trees  amid  the  trampled  copses  were  part 
of  its  regular  work. 

Jimmy  had  been  telling  his  story,  not  having  risen ;  he 
merely  sat  a  little  forward  in  advance  of  the  ring  of  faces, 
—  his  own  not  the  palest  there.  The  amateur  judges  hated 
their  task :  discussing  the  boy's  conduct  before  his  father, 
their  sorrow-stricken  pastor,  seated  there  in  stern  de- 
tachment, surrendering  his  tenderest  ties  to  their  handling. 
They  felt  clumsy  and  afraid. 

"  I  don't  ask  you  to  treat  this  as  a  duel,"  said  Jimmy, 
in  conclusion.  "It  wasn't  romantic  murder;  it  was  the 
law  working  out  by  means  of  me.  I  plead  guilty,  but  I 
will  defend  the  law !  Don't  you  suppose  I  would  have  been 
glad  to  give  her  up,  — and  come  back  home  ?  It  may  be  un- 
manly to  say  this,  but  for  my  father's  sake  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  make  as  good  a  showing  as  I  can ;  I  am  not  pleading 
against  conscience  either.  If  it  were  to  do  over  again,  I 
don't  see  how  I  could  escape.  He  ordered  me  back  and 
I  would  n't  go  :  so  we  fought.  We  tossed  up  for  turns  and 


242  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

he  got  first  shot.  He  hit  me  —  here  ;  but  —  you  can  call 
it  an  accident,  if  you  believe  in  such  accidents  —  a  little 
compass  I  happened  to  carry  in  my  breast-pocket  turned 
the  ball.  Then  I  fired  to  clear  the  road,  and  to  purge  the 
earth  of  a  shameless  villain.  You  can  purge  this  company 
of  me :  —  I  have  no  repentance  to  offer.  I  was  shaken 
at  first,  but  I  've  been  thinking  it  over  on  the  way  here. 
No  ;  I  had  to  do  it." 

As  Mr.  Hannington  approached  and  stood  listening  to 
Jimmy's  last  words,  room  was  made  for  him  in  the  circle. 
Jimmy  glanced  up  a  trifle  uneasily. 

"  Deacon,"  said  Cephas  More,  the  moderator,  "  we  are 
pretty  well  advanced  with  our  proceedings.  I  'm  sorry  ye 
could  n't  join  us  a  little  sooner  to  get  all  the  points  of  this 
matter  and  hear  what  Jimmy  has  to  say  for  himself." 

"  Jimmy  is  not  on  his  defence  before  me,"  said  the  dea- 
con firmly.  "  If  I  join  with  you  it 's  not  to  vote.  I  am  biased 
and  with  good  reason." 

"Exactly  so  !  "  Sam  Kiersted  bellowed  softly. 

"  If  this  discussion  is  closed  and  you  are  ready  now  for 
the  question,  I  will  put  it  for  your  votes, '  yea '  or  '  nay,'  " 
said  Cephas,  on  his  feet  looking  shyly  around  upon  his 
neighbors.  The  meeting  eased  its  sense  of  difficulty  in 
Jimmy's  case  by  a  disparaging  attitude  towards  one  an- 
other as  members. 

"  Does  anybody  know  what  is  '  the  question'  ?  I  don't !  " 
Sam  Kiersted  spoke  up  irregularly.  He  wanted  to  see 
Lottie,  he  wanted  his  supper ;  his  big  feelings  had  been 
terribly  worked  up  over  Stella's  condition  on  the  march. 
He  believed  that  he  cared  more  for  Jim  Yardley  than  for 
any  man,  young  or  old,  he  had  ever  associated  with  for  the 
same  length  of  time,  —  more  than  for  many  he  called  kin 


THE  MEN'S   PART  243 

and  had  known  all  his  life.  After  the  custom  of  disciplin- 
ing church  members,  Jimmy  had  been  asked  if  he  would 
choose  counsel  from  those  present,  and  had  declined.  This 
was  a  disappointment  to  Sam,  who  had  hoped  to  be  called 
on  in  some  such  capacity,  and  in  general  wished  to  relieve 
his  mind  of  things  he  did  not  know  how  to  say.  No  one 
spoke  to  the  point  of  order. 

"  The  question  ?  Well  —  a  —  "  Cephas  hummed  ; 
"hadn't  some  of  you  better  frame  it  in  the  shape  of  a  — 
resolution  and  then  I  will  put  it  as  a  resolution  ?  " 

Sam  gave  a  sardonic  laugh.  "  Do  we  know  what  we  are 
doing  anyhow?  Are  we  a  town-meetin',  or  a  church  com- 
mittee, or  a  judge  and  jury?  I  move,  Mr.  Moderator,  we 
consider  that  question  first  and  in  the  mean  time  let 
Jimmy  go  get  his  supper.  It 's  hardly  fair  to  keep  him 
here  while  we  discuss,  and  don't  even  know  what  we  want 
to  vote  on." 

"  That 's  a  friendly  suggestion,"  Cephas  allowed.  "  It 
is  moved  that  we  a  —  no  use  repeating !  you  heard  the 
motion.  Does  any  one  second  it  ?  " 

"  Neighbors,  we  must  not  trifle,"  Mr.  Yardley  interposed 
in  a  passionless  voice.  "  Let  your  sympathies  and  your  sup- 
pers wait."  They  glanced  at  his  chill,  worn  face  and  at 
each  other,  but  concluded  not  to  smile.  "  We  are  thankful 
to  our  Heavenly  Father  for  our  friends'  safe  return,  but 
we  must  not  shirk  the  duty  that  comes  home  to  us  in  the 
very  act  of  this  rejoicing.  Although  my  son  is  not  one  of 
our  church  fellowship,  he  's  a  member  of  Christian  so- 
ciety of  which  you  are  all  responsible  members.  Having 
broken  society's  oldest  law  and  one  of  God's  most  holy 
commandments,  he  is  not  to  be  treated  as  a  child  who 
wants  his  supper.  He  has  come  home  to  be  judged,  and 


244  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

there  is  no  court  but  that  of  your  consciences  before 
which  he  can  be  tried.  You  are  not  empowered  to  sen- 
tence him  in  law,  but  you  have  a  right  to  reject  him  as 
a  member  of  our  company  and  a  future  citizen  of  the 
community  we  go  to  found.  Now,  if  you  please,  the 
question ! " 

Poor  Cephas  with  an  audible  sigh  took  up  his  task  again. 
He  cast  a  deprecatory  look  at  Jimmy. 

"  We  are  all  acquainted  with  our  —  with  this  young 
man's  character  in  the  past.  What  we  say  or  which  way 
we  vote  —  " 

"  Mr.  Moderator,"  broke  in  belligerent  Sam,  "  I  'd  like 
to  ask  why  you  say  'in  the  past '  ?  That 's  what  I  call  pre- 
judging the  case.  If  you  think  Jimmy's  character  has  al- 
tered any  in  the  last  few  days  some  of  the  rest  of  us  may 
not  be  of  your  opinion." 

"  Out  of  order !  "  "  That 's  unnecessary !  "  was  the  gen- 
eral voice :  Sam  smiled  and  sat  back  on  his  boots,  sup- 
pressed but  chuckling. 

"  I  repeat,  friends,  and  I  know  you  understand  me 
('  Aye,  aye ')  —  any  action  we  may  take  here  and  now 
on  this  special  matter  before  us  don't  affect  our  individual 
opinion  of  Jimmy,  nor  begin  to  express  what  we  feel  to- 
wards him  —  " 

"  You  're  wandering  from  the  point,  Cephas,"  drawled 
a  voice.  "  Get  back  on  the  question,  can't  ye?" 

"  In  plain  words,  then,"  said  the  unhappy  mouthpiece, 
"  the  question  we  must  look  in  the  face  is  this :  would  — 
would  Jimmy  here  —  having  done  what  he  confesses  — 
be  liable  —  in  a  community  with  laws  in  full  force  —  to 
be  indicted  on  the  charge  of  homicide,  say  —  in  the  second 
or  third—  " 


THE   MEN'S  PART  245 

"  I  submit,"  howled  Sam,  in  a  voice  as  submissive  as  a 
steam  siren,  "  that 's  not  the  question  at  all!  " 

"  Order,  order,  Sam  !  No  use  taking  the  ground  you  're 
the  only  friend  Jim  's  got." 

"Just  hear  me  out,  will  you?  There's  a  point  right  here 
we  ought  to  settle  ;  the  discussion  won't  be  closed  till  we 
do  settle  it.  There 's  no  law  in  any  part  of  these  United 
States  that  would  punish  Jimmy  for  manslaughter  on  this 
charge  —  " 

"  He  did  n't  say  punish  3  he  said  4  indict,'  "  a  voice  in- 
terrupted. 

Sam  glared  and  went  on  :  — 

"  —  Because  you  could  n't  get  a  live  human  jury  to  find 
him  guilty.  There 's  a  law  of  man's  nature  in  a  case  like 
this.  It  don't  need  to  be  on  the  statutes.  It 's  in  you  and 
in  me,  if  we  'd  let  it  speak.  Why  don't  we  ?  The  question, 
as  I  would  put  it,  is  :  i Do  we  censure  him,  man  to  man? 
Would  we  have  done  different  in  his  place  ?  Do  we  want 
him  to  be  one  of  us?'  That's  what  Mr.  Yardley  means, 
if  I  can  say  it  before  him.  Do  we,  honest,  respect 
Jimmy  a  bit  the  less  or  distrust  him  more  on  account 
of  what  he  's  done  ?  Do  we  think  he  ought  to  have  for- 
sook his  manhood  and  his  trust  and  come  home  to  us  a 
poltroon  his  own  father  would  be  ashamed  of  ?  That 's 
the  way  I  'd  put  the  question  or  I  would  n't  put  it  at  all." 

Sam  sat  back  on  his  heels  with  a  satisfied  smile  and 
chewed  tobacco  furiously.  It  soothed  his  stomach  which 
clamored  for  supper.  He  pitied  poor  little  Jim,  who  had  n't 
sense  enough  to  use  it. 

"  If  I  understand  the  duties  of  a  moderator,"  Cephas 
patiently  rejoined,  "  one  of  them  is  to  be  mod'rate.  It 
would  n't  strike  me  as  a  fair  way  to  put  any  question  to 


246  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

vote,  the  way  Brother  Kiersted  puts  his ;  but  if  you  want 
it  that  way  you  're  the  ones  to  say  so.  It 's  open  for  you  to 
discuss,  and  when  you  're  ready  I  will  put  it  to  vote  on 
the  question  which  is  the  question  —  how  you  '11  have  it : 
the  way  it  was  put  first  or  the  way  Brother  Kiersted  wants 
it.  Is  that  all  clear?" 

"  That 's  all  right,  Brother  More,"  said  a  new  voice  en- 
couragingly. "  If  I  may  have  the  floor,  or  the  ground,  a 
moment,  I 'd  like  to  remark:  We  don't  go  on  record  as  favor- 
ing such  methods  in  general  because  we  exonerate  Jimmy 
for  fighting  this  out.  But  some  might  say  he  went  counter 
to  his  father's  judgment  before  us  all  at  Lone  Tree  Camp, 
when  he  said  the  son  of  Adam  and  the  daughter  of  Eve 
should  go  forth  together  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  inherit- 
ance. 

"  Circumstances  alter  cases,"  the  argument  continued. 
"  Jimmy  was  given  the  job  to  run  it  his  own  way.  No 
special  order  was  sent  to  the  contrary  of  what  he  done. 
The  first  call  was  for  Adam's  son  to  go  with  Eve's  daugh- 
ter and  sustain  her  in  what  lay  before  them.  Now,  this 
man  was  n't  worthy  the  name  of  Adam,  who  was  a  man. 
His  conduct  right  there  showed  it.  Adam  's  had  enough 
cast  back  at  him,  and  Eve  too,  through  their  descendants, 
without  putting  such  a  creatur'  as  this  in  the  same  cate- 
gory. You  can  call  her  Eve,  but  you  can't  call  him  Adam, 
—  not  after  he  showed  what  he  was;  —  and  if  we  don't 
blame  Jimmy  for  being  forced  out  of  his  job  by  one  that 
had  no  right  to  it,  why  not  say  so  and  put  it  to  vote?" 

Deacon  Hannington  here  gave  signs  of  having  some- 
thing on  his  mind :  attention  was  drawn  to  him  by  his 
straightening  up  and  looking  fixedly  across  the  circle  at 
the  parson.  Failing  to  meet  his  eye,  he  rose  and  addressed 


THE  MEN'S   PART  247 

him  by  name,  asking  permission  to  say  a  few  words  "  in 
acknowledgment  of  error,  grievous  error  on  the  part  of 
myself  and  wife.  — We  desire  to  ask  our  minister's  forgive- 
ness, out  and  out  before  you  all,  for  urging  upon  him  to 
take  my  unfortunate  —  my  niece  along.  We  knew  he  was 
averse  to  it ;  we  did  n't  really  think  ourselves  she  had  the 
requirements ;  we  put  him  in  a  delicate  position  to  help 
ourselves  out ;  we  were  self-seeking  through  the  whole  of 
it,  in  one  way.  In  another  we  wa'n't,  but  that  I  can't 
explain." 

There  was  a  pause.  All  eyes  looked  kindness  upon  the 
pain-stricken  face  of  the  speaker :  old  Doctor  Hanning- 
ton's  son,  —  grandson  of  Judge  Hannington, — men  to 
whom  all  hats  went  off  in  their  day.  They  warmed  to  him 
more  for  being  able  to  pity  him. 

"  She 's  brought  a  world  of  trouble  on  our  minister's 
family,  first  and  last.  (Jimmy  moved  restlessly.)  We  have 
made  it  the  subject  of  prayer.  We  see  our  fault  and  accept 
our  punishment ;  but  for  what  has  fallen  on  others,  my 
head  is  bowed  in  shame." 

There  was  a  strong  murmured  protest,  a  heavy  taking 
of  breaths.  Mr.  Yardley's  eyes  were  covered,  but  beneath 
the  shielding  hand  his  mouth  was  visible  in  its  broken 
sweetness.  He  appeared  to  gather  himself  to  rise,  with  dif- 
ficulty, Deacon  Hannington  gently  forestalling  the  attempt. 

"  Parson,  excuse  me  :  I  have  n't  finished  quite.  I  wanted 
to  thank  Jimmy  now,  before  you  act  upon  him,  for  bring- 
ing the  poor  girl  home.  Whatever  she  's  done  —  and  I  've 
been  as  hard  on  her  as  the  next  one  —  she  needs  help 
now,  and  other  women.  And  I  ask  you  to  remember 
she  's  young  yet,  not  twenty.  It 's  her  first  serious  step 
aside.  To  me,  of  course,  —  she  's  my  sister's  child." 


248  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Mr.  Yardley  now  stood  up  and  looked  straight  at  the 
deacon,  who  with  his  last  words  had  broken  down  and 
was  forced  to  hide  his  face. 

"  Deacon  Hannington,  my  friend  ;  I  cannot  sit  still  and 
let  God  hear  you  asking  forgiveness  of  me."  The  minis- 
ter's voice  rang  with  a  rich  jar  like  a  stroke  on  a  fine- 
toned  bell.  "  Your  niece,  alone,  could  have  done  us  no 
harm :  there  was  a  bad  man  amongst  you  and  I  brought 
him !  Instead  of  trusting  the  Word  of  God,  I  purchased 
safety  and  paid  the  price  in  a  human  soul.  I  knew  that 
man  had  evil  in  him.  The  seed  of  evil  found  soil  prepared 
for  it :  the  same  soil,  sweetened  and  opened  to  the  sun  of 
love,  might  have  been  fit  for  a  precious  crop.  I  will  not 
tax  you  further  with  self-examination ;  but  let  no  one  ask 
forgiveness  of  me." 

He  sat  down  and  Jimmy  reached  across  and  stroked 
his  father's  hand.  It  was  not  a  man's  action :  wherefore 
the  others  looked  away. 

Mr.  Hannington  asked  to  be  heard  somewhat  further, 
on  a  practical  matter. 

"  I  expect  you  will  be  planning  to  start  on  to-morrow 
morning,  when  you  have  settled  whether  —  well,"  —  he 
began  afresh ;  u  my  wife  and  I  want  it  known  that  on 
account  of  our  niece's  illness,  and  for  other  reasons,  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  remain  with  this  company.  We  are 
going  to  feel  the  separation  very  much,  and  we  remember 
all  the  kindness  you  have  shown  us,  but  we  are  prepared 
to  accept  what  comes  to  us  alone,  through  our  family 
circumstances.  I  deeply  appreciate  our  minister's  words, 
and  I  know  my  wife,  if  she  could  have  heard  him,  would 
say  the  same  ;  but  we  have  no  right  to  take  advantage  of 
your  sympathies,  nor  his  magnanimous  way  of  putting 


THE  MEN'S   PART  249 

things.  We  've  been  a  handicap  first  and  last,  and  a  detri- 
ment to  the  whole  spirit  of  the  undertaking  :  and  so  we 
are  bound  to  withdraw,  and  no  compunctions  need  be  felt. 
But  now,  as  to  Jimmy ;  —  it  occurred  to  me  while  you 
were  discussing  whether  he  is  blameworthy  or  not :  —  if 
you  should  decide  to  name  it  so  and  want  to  express  your 
disapproval,  in  moderation,  of  what  he  has  done — why 
not  consign  him  to  us  ?  If  our  company  's  good  enough 
for  him,  he  's  plenty  good  enough  for  ours.  We  're  the  ones 
who  got  him  into  this  trouble :  it  would  ill  become  us  to 
set  up  in  judgment ;  and  we  need  him.  There  are  several 
reasons  and  they  don't  all  jibe,  but  I  guess  the  main  rea- 
son is  we  love  the  boy." 

"  Now,  I  'd  like  to  know  what 's  that ! "  said  Lottie 
Kiersted  with  a  snap  of  her  black  eyes.  "  That 's  the  sec- 
ond time  they  've  woke  him  up  making  that  noise.  My 
goodness,  I  think  it 's  awful  —  cheering  like  Fourth  of 
July  and  we  up  here  worried  to  death  and  not  knowing  a 
thing!" 

Lottie  had  made  the  exchange  Mrs.  Hannington  sug- 
gested, her  nursing  for  Barbie's  cooking,  but  had  rushed 
back  to  her  camp  hearing  the  baby  cry. 

"  Hush ! "  said  Barbie.  There  was  no  hushing  Sam's 
progeny  nor  for  that  matter  Sammy  junior's  excitable 
little  mother  when  her  feelings  were  aroused.  She  swung 
the  youngster  on  her  hip  and  hummed  to  him  while  Barbie 
was  trying  to  listen. 

"  They  seem  pleased  with  themselves,"  she  thought. 
"  That  great  shout  could  n't  have  meant  4  guilty '  ?  —  they 
would  n't  have  said  it  like  that !  It  could  n't  have  been 
4  unanimous  '  even  if  it  had  to  be  '  guilty.'  "  She  was  not 


250  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

greatly  afraid ;  but  she  was  rasped  and  excited  and  sick 
with  delay  :  she  wanted  one  look  at  Jimmy. 

"  Think  of  their  being  down  there  this  whole  hour ! " 
Lottie  whispered,  breaking  off  her  tune ;  "  why,  Sam  just 
loves  Jimmy,  and  he  sees  through  folks.  I  thought  I 
heard  Sam's  roar.  If  it  was  *  guilty  '  you  would  n't  hear 
his  voice ! " 

Sam,  the  great  reader  of  character,  at  that  moment  was 
saying  to  Mr.  Hannington,  —  after  that  last  huge  testi- 
mony to  the  effect  that  all  should  go  or  none :  no  more 
breaks  in  the  company,  —  "  Why,  great  goodness,"  he  was 
saying,  "  that  little  thing !  no  more  trouble  than  a  kitten  ! 
We  ought  to  rest  our  horses  a  day  or  two  anyhow  — 
what 's  a  few  days !  If  she  can  lay  on  a  bed  she  can  go 
along.  We'll  rig  a  horse-litter;  and  if  the  trail  gives 
out  I  '11  carry  her  myself.  I  can  hoof  it  like  a  goat.  Lottie 
will  have  the  boy  with  her  in  one  of  the  carts ;  all  of  you 
will  see  to  her.  I  'm  the  strong  man  of  Gaza.  I  would  n't 
feel  that  little  girl  more  than  a  squaw  feels  her  papoose 
on  her  back,  climbing  the  mountains.  My !  I  wanted  to 
carry  her  on  the  road  we  come  —  but  —  I  say  but  that  was 
rough !  As  for  being  one  of  us !  Who  are  we  ?  If  we  're 
all  right  ourselves,  as  parson  says,  how  's  she  going  to 
hurt  us  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE   FIRST   OFFERING 

No  one  observed  Jimmy  —  no  one  spoke  of  it,  at  least 
—  when  he  slipped  away  from  the  supper  group  and  fol- 
lowed a  lane  of  shadow  down  which  Barbie  had  disap- 
peared. Her  errand  was  water,  to  refill  the  tea-kettle : 
the  men  were  being  served  by  the  women,  patriarchal 
fashion.  He  had  taken  her  pail  and  set  it  down,  and  what- 
ever the  precaution  led  to  had  satisfactorily  occurred 
without  witnesses. 

"  There  is  a  hole  in  my  coat,  under  your  cheek,  girl  — 
girl!  You  've  got  to  mend  it  with  my  thimble." 

Barbie  felt  of  the  place  where  her  cheek  had  rested ; 
she  became  thoughtful.  "  What  is  under  that  hole  ?  " 

"  My  '  self-defence.'  I  'd  like  you  to  see  it.  Put  your 
head  back  there  again !  " 

"  But  I  hurt  you  !  There  is  something  —  " 

"  My  old  compass  gave  me  a  beautiful  dig  just  to  show 
it  was  there  on  the  job.  My  bully  old  compass  that  I  paid 
three  dollars  for  —  even  the  money  dad  sent  me  to  buy  a 
new  hat  for  church." 

"  You  were  always  wicked,  Jimmy." 

"  I  've  come  to  a  bad  end.    Am  I  the  same  to  you?" 

"Not  quite  the  same."  (Better,  thought  Barbie,  who 
had  never  seen  her  lover's  eyes  like  that  before.) 

"  Not  quite  such  good  material  for  one's  husband  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  need  n't  be  particular :  we  're  not  a  very  nice 
family  to  marry  into.  I  'm  not  joking." 


252  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  Nor  I !  "  said  Jimmy.  "  I  suppose  you  and  my  father 
care  what  the  other  folks  think.  I  want  to  know  what 's 
going  to  be  thought  of  this  in  my  own  home,  that  house 
we  were  speaking  about." 

"  We  're  not  going  to  think  :  but  you  are  not  going  to 
put  on  this  coat  ever  again  in  my  sight." 

"  Then  you  don't  call  it  square  —  a  case  of  brute  ne- 
cessity ?  " 

"  I  call  it  —  I  don't  call  it  anything.  You  are  just  you  : 
but  other  people  had  better  be  careful  what  they  call  it 
before  me  !  Jimmy,  you  won't  keep  that  coat  ?  " 

"This,"  said  Jimmy  —  serious  topics  being  suppressed 
for  a  time  —  "  will  have  to  be  your  engagement  ring,  4  in 
lieu  of  many  ornaments  wherewith  my  love  should  duly 
have  been  decked.' "  He  put  back  the  little  old  thimble 
on  the  finger  it  belonged  to,  leaving  a  kiss  in  its  keeping. 

Barbie's  mild  acquaintance  with  profane  classics  gave 
her  no  clew  to  Jimmy's  flight,  but  her  heart  followed  and 
her  ear  was  delicately  tuned  to  niceties  of  speech.  Her 
dreaming  mind  had  passed  over  much  in  the  village  life 
she  was  too  familiar  with  to  note  its  rich  complexity  of 
local  detail  and  its  concentrated  human  interest ;  she  was 
not  an  observer  or  an  interpreter,  but  an  imaginative  list- 
ener and  follower  of  the  range  of  bigger  minds:  here 
were  pleasant  paths  to  tread  in  the  future  of  that  home 
which  was  seeking  a  spot  to  rest  on.  But  there  would  be 
a  strong,  practical  reaction  first :  Barbie's  initial  output 
would  register  a  plunge  into  cook-books  instead  of  Eliza- 
bethan poetry. 

"  Speaking  of  rings,"  said  Jimmy,  "could  one  borrow 
one's  mother's  wedding-ring,  if  a  need  should  arise  ?  " 

"  Would  n't  a  clothes-pin  do  ?  " 


THE   FIRST   OFFERING  253 

"  Barbie,  I  'm  shocked !  Where  's  this  sort  of  thing 
going  to  end,  in  one  that  was  a  church  member  ?  " 

"In  hard  work,  where  every  frontier  marriage  ends, 
we  're  told." 

"  Will  you  mind  it,  I  wonder?  Of  course,  that 's  most 
miserably  true !  " 

"  Not  more  than  you  will  :  you  don't  love  ploughing 
do  you?" 

"  I  am  willing  to  plough  for  something  better  than 
ploughing." 

"  I  'm  willing  to  wash  for  something  better  than  wash- 
ing." 

"  It  won't  last,  not  the  first  period.  And  you  won't 
wash,  young  lady.  If  you  do,  it  means  failure  and  we  '11 
quit." 

"By  the  time  it  means  —  anything,  we'll  be  so  wild 
about  it  we  can't  '  quit.'  " 

"  Prophetess  in  Israel,  I  bow  to  thy  wisdom  !  I  guess 
we  '11  stick  it  out  somehow." 

They  were  silenced  by  the  sight  of  two  figures  illumi- 
nated by  a  lantern,  who  passed  singly,  at  a  distance,  across 
the  dark  mountain  background :  Deacon  Hannington  and 
his  wife.  He  carried  a  spade  over  his  shoulder  and  she 
walked  behind  him,  holding  something  out  on  her  two 
hands  wrapped  in  a  white  cloth ;  her  long  step  broke  the 
line  of  her  skirt  in  the  back ;  she  moved  with  solemnity, 
like  a  priestess  presenting  an  offering.  This  strange  sight 
amazed  the  younger  pair.  Barbie  was  the  first  to  under- 
stand: her  parents  were  burying  the  family  pride,  the 
clean  old  record  of  generations  which  fate  had  made  sport 
of.  It  was  also  a  sacrifice  to  Libitina ;  the  price  of  thrills. 
And  the  irony  which  smote  the  girl  was  that  her  own 


254  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

father  and  mother,  in  the  presence  of  their  maiden  daugh- 
ter and  her  lover,  should  be  the  chosen  ministrants  of  this 
ceremony.  She  tore  herself  out  of  Jimmy's  arms  and  van- 
ished somewhere,  in  the  darkness. 

When  he  had  swallowed  his  share  of  the  meaning  of 
that  spectacle,  he  was  better  prepared  for  his  part.  Barbie 
was  not  hard  to  find ;  she  was  crying  to  herself  in  a  little 
heap  on  the  ground,  not  anywhere  in  particular,  —  just 
where  she  could  be  alone.  He  took  her  back  to  his  arms ; 
there  was  little  said;  but  Jimmy  at  length  presented  a 
conclusion  based  not  altogether  on  passion  nor  on  circum- 
stance :  "  I  want  to  marry  into  this  family  as  soon  as  it 
will  have  me." 


PART  II 


CHAPTER  I 
HAIL  AND  FAREWELL! 

EAST  of  the  Cascade  Range  and  west  of  the  Blue 
Mountains,  in  the  country  of  the  Upper  Columbia,  Dr. 
Whitman  had  planted  his  mission  among  the  Cayuse  In- 
dians at  Waiilatpu,  "  place  of  rye  grass."  Here  arrived, 
in  the  middle  of  September,  the  main  caravan  of  1 842, 
giving  the  honors  of  emigration  for  that  year  to  the 
Methodists.  These  people  had  started  without  a  guide, 
trusting  themselves  to  the  eccentric  leadership  of  Dr. 
Elijah  White,  who  held  a  commission  as  sub-Indian-agent 
to  cooperate  with  the  British  in  Oregon  and  Vancouver. 
It  was  he  who  ordered  the  execution  of  those  twenty  dogs 
belonging  to  as  many  uptorn  families  clinging  to  the  few 
ties  left  them  that  spoke  of  home :  wherefore,  and  for 
similar  reasons,  we  are  not  surprised  to  hear  later  on  of  a 
split  in  the  party  under  a  rival,  Captain  Hastings ;  but 
all  were  of  one  body,  united  for  safety  as  they  passed 
through  the  Pawnee  country.  At  Fort  Laramie,  where 
they  left  our  small  band  of  exodists,  they  hired  the  moun- 
taineer, Fitzpatrick,  for  a  round  sum  to  pilot  them  as  far 
as  Fort  Hall ;  onward  from  there  to  Waiilatpu,  the  tribes, 
he  assured  them,  were  friendly. 

The  great  Nez  Perce*  nation,  to  the  north  and  east  of 
the  mission,  were  intermarried  with  the  Cayuses,  having 
given  them  their  language  which  had  largely  replaced  the 
original  Cayuse  tongue ;  all  books  translated  for  the  use 
of  Indian  converts  being  done  into  Nez  Perce.  Bradburn 


258  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

equally  may  have  been  posted  as  to  the  temper  of  these 
tribes,  but  he  appears  to  have  been  frugal  of  spreading 
knowledge  which  might  cheapen  the  value  of  the  personal 
element  in  Indian  affairs  supposed  to  reside  in  himself. 

With  Dr.  White's  party,  first  to  reach  the  mission,  came 
A.  L.  Lovejoy,  as  brave  a  heart  as  Whitman's  and  as 
keen  for  the  Oregon  game  :  call  the  stake  religion  or 
national  expansion  or  free-state  territory,  or  simply  get- 
ting rich,  the  game  was  big  enough  to  include  most  things 
big  men  desire  to  do  in  this  world,  and  a  faith  in  God 
besides  which  was  the  chief  reward  of  many  who  spent 
their  lives  there,  and  lost  them  as  the  seed  of  higher 
things. 

White  and  Lovejoy  brought  news  —  only  six  months 
old  —  of  the  hitch  in  Oregon  affairs  at  Washington :  of  the 
South's  opposition  and  the  attitude  of  Webster,  not  en- 
tirely disinterested ;  of  the  calm  shrewdness  of  England's 
waiting  policy  —  not  too  eager  diplomatically,  but  indus- 
trious on  the  ground.  Whitman  was  burning  with  his  own 
knowledge :  the  strength  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  people  and 
the  Catholics  combined  against  sectarian  Americans  who 
would  scatter  the  hunts  and  cut  into  priestly  authority. 
He  had  other  reasons  connected  with  his  special  work 
which  we  will  not  touch  upon  ;  what  he  knew  in  addition 
to  what  he  heard  was  enough.  The  others  agreed  with 
him,  but  could  he  do  it?  would  he  be  able  to  convince 
President  Tyler  and  the  nation  that  wagons  could  pass 
Fort  Hall,  and  that  a  land  for  home-makers  lay  beyond  ? 

He  said,  "  I  must  be  there  this  winter  in  order  to  do  it. 
The  train  must  start  next  spring,  and  those  wagons  shall 
go  through !  If  it  were  Pelion  upon  Ossa,  we  '11  get 


HAIL  AND  FAREWELL  259 

The  material  part  of  his  equipment  took  not  long :  in 
spirit  he  was  there  already ;  his  only  lack  —  a  companion 
he  could  trust  as  himself.  In  Lovejoy  he  found  the  man. 
Having  but  just  completed  a  little  journey  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles,  he  turned  about  and  went  back  with  Whit- 
man by  a  shorter,  wholly  conjectural  route  on  the  famous 
"  mid-winter  ride."  We  have  merely  to  mention  here  an 
incident  at  the  outset  of  that  adventure  which  hinges  upon 
our  tale,  explaining  several  matters  that  shall  follow. 

The  horsemen  had  come  down  after  dark  into  the 
valley,  making  long  hours  in  the  saddle.  They  failed  to 
discern  the  little  camp,  its  fires  covered  for  the  night,  hid 
in  the  willows  across  the  vague,  dim  prospect.  Daybreak 
showed  them,  as  they  pushed  on  for  the  canyon  wall,  a 
stain  of  smoke  rising  lazily  on  the  frosty  air. 

Every  high  endeavor  we  read  of  has  been  attended  by 
its  coincidences  which  Christian  minds  call  Providence. 
Mr.  Yardley  was  ever  fond  of  recalling  that,  by  seeming 
accident,  Dr.  Whitman  had  chosen  this  morning  for  his 
start  and  decided  to  cross  the  mountains  by  a  way  on 
which  they  would  surely  have  missed  him  had  they  broken 
camp  on  the  day  first  set;  if,  in  short,  they  had  not 
waited  for  the  Hanningtons.  It  is  on  record  that  the 
doctor  reached  Fort  Hall  in  eleven  days,  our  pilgrims 
taking  a  month  for  the  same  distance. 

Mrs.  Hannington  had  not  slept  that  night,  her  patient 
being  restless  and  full  of  fears.  She  had  been  up  a  num- 
ber of  times  waiting  upon  her  and  watching  her  condition 
in  reference  to  the  journey.  The  watchman  had  built  an 
early  fire  and  filled  her  kettle  for  her  and  she  was  brew- 
ing tea  when  the  cattle-guard,  grazing  his  stock  before 
hitching  up  for  the  climb,  was  heard  to  shout  a  name. 


260  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Lovejoy !  "  rang  through  the  camp.  The  two  had  been 
friends  when  the  companies  were  united,  and  had  said 
good-bye  to  each  other  at  Laramie  with  strong  regrets. 

"Lovejoy!  Whitman!"  Men  sprang  out  of  their 
blankets ;  women  tidied  their  hair  in  haste  and  bundled 
themselves  and  their  babes  in  wraps  to  go  forth  and  gaze 
at  the  visitors.  Dr.  Whitman  —  this  time  of  year!  his 
face  towards  the  way  they  had  come ! 

He  welcomed  them  loudly,  shaking  one  after  another 
by  the  hand,  between  gulps  of  Mrs.  Hannington's  hot  tea. 
Lovejoy,  who  had  known  them  all,  introduced  them  with 
hearty  pride. 

"  You  are  the  very  men  I  am  going  East  to  fetch  out 
here,"  the  doctor  bellowed.  "  We  want  you  now,  and 
your  wives  and  babies.  I  tell  you  I  am  glad  to  see  the 
women :  that  means  a  future.  We  want  as  many  of  your 
sort  as  the  Lord  can  spare  us.  We  want  the  salt  of  the 
earth.  There's  an  empire  waiting  for  us  here,  but  you 
can't  make  an  empire  out  of  fur  traders  and  soldiers  — 
no,  nor  missionaries.  We  want  the  people  —  and  we 
might  as  well  have  good  ones.  The  Lord  was  n't  humble 
when  he  made  this  country  ;  "  the  doctor  waved  a  proud 
hand  at  the  landscape  :  "  now,  we  want  men  and  women 
to  fit  it. 

"  Mr.  Yardley,  let  me  shake  your  hand  again,  sir.  There 
never  was  a  truer  or  braver  conception  of  a  Christian 
minister's  work  than  this  of  yours  —  nor  more  timely.  I 
see  you  here  with  your  chosen  flock,  —  fathers  and  mothers 
in  Israel,  in  answer  to  our  prayers.  I  don't  disparage 
others,  but  I  know  the  stuff  that  you  bring  us.  I  am  only 
a  practical  man  myself  ;  a  teacher  —  my  wife 's  a  better 
one;  a  physician,  but  she 's  the  nurse  ;  a  farmer,  but  she's 


HAIL  AND  FAREWELL  261 

the  gardener.    We  're  practical  workers,  but  we  need  a 
Lead,  so  to  speak,  in  the  clouds. 

"  There  are  folks  here  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  an 
old-fashioned  church  service,  prayer  and  praise  and 
preaching.  TFe  want  you,  we  need  you  —  more  than  the 
Indians  think  they  need  us ;  you  will  support  us  in  our 
work.  '  Us,'  I  say !  you  '11  be  far  away  from  us,  but  it 's 
all  one  country  —  one  fellowship  in  Christ.  You  '11  be 
our  first  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
new  Northwest.  We  '11  make  you  our  bishop  one  of  these 
days.  And  look  at  that  little  pink  tow-head  over  there, 
the  rascal !  " — remarks  addressed  to  Sam'l  Kiersted,  Jr., 
sleepily  sucking  his  thumb  and  staring  at  the  speaker. 
Finding  himself  the  centre  of  all  eyes  and  smiles  he 
ducked  his  head  into  his  mother's  shawl  hunched  about 
her  neck.  —  "  We  '11  send  that  fellow  to  Congress  about 
the  time  he  grows  a  beard  on  those  fat  cheeks.  Mrs.  Han- 
nington,  let  me  say,  this  tea  of  yours  tastes  of  home.  I 
think  I  see  the  lacquered  caddy  it  came  out  of,  in  the 
corner  cupboard  of  an  old  white-painted  sittin'-room,  back 
in  the  Old  Bay  State.  That 's  where  you  're  from  ;  you 
don't  need  to  tell  me.  I  knew  it,  first  minute  you  spoke. 
My  !  I  wish  my  wife  could  be  here  and  there,  too !  You  '11 
find  her  all  ready  and  waiting  for  you.  We  've  been  look- 
ing out  for  you  folks  these  two  weeks,  ever  since  the  last 
of  the  others  got  in ;  they  reported  you  not  more  than  a 
few  days  behind :  3d  of  October,  when  we  left  —  not  a 
word !  I  was  anxious,  so  I  sent  some  of  our  Indians  out 
on  scout  for  you.  They  won't  miss  you.  You  can  trust 
'em  —  guides  or  packers  or  hunters.  They  '11  show  you 
where  I  had  them  cache  a  lot  of  fodder  and  foodstuff  — 
case  you  were  short  and  got  caught  in  the  snow ;  cattle 


262  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

can't  travel  without  food.  The  Willamette  is  where  you 
are  going,  I  suppose  ?  Well,  there 's  a  splendid  country 
around  Walla  Walla,  bound  to  fill  up  some  day.  You 
can't  take  your  stock  over  the  trail  this  time  of  year,  re- 
member :  the  Indians  make  a  practice  of  burning  off  the 
grass  in  October.  You  would  better  go  down  the  Colum- 
bia from  Fort  Walla  Walla  in  the  fur  company's  boats  ; 
there 's  a  wild  dash  at  the  Dalles  where  you  4  carry ' :  — 
Don't  we  have  the  names  out  here?  My  wife  says  they 
sound  like  the  'timbrels  o'er  Egypt's  dark  sea.'  They 
get  into  your  blood." 

"  Are  the  Hudson's  Bay  people  friendly,  speaking  of 
borrowing  boats?"  the  question  was  asked. 

"  Well,  as  a  company  they  are  not, —  quite  the  reverse. 
They  don't  want  us  here  and  they  are  trying  as  hard  as 
they  can  to  back-fire  us  with  settlers  of  their  own.  But, 
man  to  man,  they  are  clever  folks  and  gentlemen  besides : 
—  ever  see  a  nicer  man  than  Captain  Grant  ?  Keeps  say- 
ing, though,  and  believes  it,  that  our  wagons  will  never 
get  across.  We  '11  show  'em  what  our  wagons  can  do ! 
Old  John  McLoughlin, '  King  of  Oregon  '  -  —  he's  '  king,' 
but  he  's  father,  too.  If  we  don't  love  him  and  stick  up 
for  him  we  ought  to  be  spanked  for  it  like  ungrateful 
1  children.  He  saved  the  lives  of  all  those  first  ones,  —  crazy 
they  were,  too.  He  won't  sell  a  cow ;  cows  are  too  pre- 
cious, but  where  there  's  babies  he  '11  rent.  You  seem  to 
have  had  bad  luck  with  your  stock.  —  Plenty,  plenty ! 
thank  you,  Mrs.  Hannington.  How  many  cups  have  you 
had,  Love  joy  ?  don't  want  to  rob  my  neighbor.  We  had  a 
cold  start.  Didn't  stop  to  boil  coffee.  —  Letters,  ma'm? 
Why,  of  course  !  — write  'em  quick 's  you  can,  though  ;  we 
must  n't  let  the  sun  show  us  our  shadows  this  side  the 


HAIL   AND  FAREWELL  263 

climb.  How  much  can  a  woman's  pen  say  in  fifteen  min- 
utes ?  "  Whitman  took  out  his  watch,  but  looked  sailor- 
wise  at  the  sky. 

"  A  pen  that 's  been  waiting  all  summer  to  say  it  can 
say  a  good  deal,  I  guess."  Deacon  Hannington  smiled  at 
his  wife.  "  Here  let  me  sharpen  that  pencil !  I  kept  a 
diary  for  most  part  of  the  way :  if  I  could  get  at  it  handy, 
I  'd  send  that  along  to  our  folks  in  Buffalo." 

"  Better  not,"  Whitman  cautioned.  "  A  diary  of  this 
journey  is  going  to  be  sought  after,  fifty  years  from  now. 
We  're  not  sure,  you  know,  if  we  '11  ever  see  a  post-office 
again." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TRUTH  AS  IT  IS  TOLD 

"DEAR  mother  and  all  of  you,"  Silence  wrote.  The 
letter  was  one  of  a  bundle  sorted  by  their  dates  and  la- 
belled "  The  children's  letters  from  Oregon,  1842-43," 
found  in  Grandmother  Trumbull's  secretary,  —  the  small 
middle  drawer  with  a  special  key.  She  read  them  as  the 
whole  truth,  forgetting  what  sort  of  letters  she  used  to  send 
her  daughter  in  Dugdale,  from  her  first  pioneer  home. 
They  were,  if  not  God's  truth,  a  woman's,  — the  blood-red 
rose  of  truth  from  which  love  has  plucked  the  thorns. 

"  I  must  write  as  fast  as  I  can  with  this  stub  of  a  pen- 
cil. Everything  is  packed.  We  start  in  about  an  hour. 
Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Lovejoy  surprised  us,  stopping  at 
our  camp  this  morning  on  a  sudden  journey  East.  A  won- 
derful Providence  our  not  missing  them.  Mr.  Yardley 
had  the  greatest  desire  to  talk  with  Dr.  Whitman.  He  is 
a  glorious  man.  You  will  know  all  about  his  journey  East 
if  this  ever  reaches  you  —  if  they  get  through,  that  is. 

"  We  are  in  the  famous  valley  of  the  Grand  Round, 
only  sixty  miles  from  the  mission  where  friends  and  rest 
await  us.  Dr.  Whitman  has  posted  guides  in  the  mountains 
to  meet  us.  Our  troubles,  we  feel,  are  over  now.  This 
valley  is  encircled  by  the  grandest  peaks  ;  they  shine  like 
the  gates  of  pearl.  Snow  up  there  and  hot  sunshine  here, 
—  a  great  plain  of  dried  grass,  yellow  as  harvest.  At 
night  we  look  up  at  such  a  sky  as  they  might  have  watched 
from  the  housetops  of  Bethlehem. 


THE  TEUTH  AS  IT  IS   TOLD         265 

"  You  must  n't  expect  to  hear  about  the  journey,  yet. 
It  overwhelms  me  to  look  back  upon  the  distance  we  have 
come.  Months  of  sunrise  and  sunset,  — travel  —  travel  — 
travel !  Everything  we  ever  knew,  except  the  stars,  we 
have  left  behind  us.  I  ought  to  add  —  our  faults  and 
the  faults  of  our  neighbors.  Human  nature  comes  out  on 
such  a  journey  as  this.  But  we  are  n't  quite  as  bad  as  the 
Israelites.  I  've  never  heard  any  one  say,  '  Would  to  God 
we  had  died,  when  we  sat  by  the  flesh-pots,'  though  I  Ve 
thought  with  longing  of  the  bits  of  bread  we  used  to 
throw  to  the  chickens.  Too  much  '  flesh '  has  been  our 
cry.  But  we  don't  look  back ;  we  look  ahead.  And  now 
for  our  family  news.  Some  day  next  spring,  if  we  all 
live,  —  I  don't  know  when,  but  you  may  c  feel  it  in  your 
bones,'  —  our  girl  and  the  minister's  son  will  stand  up 
before  him  and  be  made  man  and  wife.  They  say  they 
can't  wait  —  Jimmy  says  —  for  a  church  to  be  married 
in.  It  will  be  under  a  tree,  I  expect,  in  the  woods  if 
there  are  any  around  our  first  cabins.  We  don't  know 
exactly  where  we  shall  settle  yet.  I  hear  talk  of  the 
Willamette  Valley.  It's  all  like  a  dream,  the  strange 
names  and  all,  but  if  you  could  hear  those  men  talking  as 
I  hear  them,  while  we  women  write  our  letters,  you  'd  say 
there  was  a  mighty  sight  of  something  in  it.  But  I  know 
you  can  wait  about  Oregon,  and  I  can't  think  of  any- 
thing but  the  children  and  their  happiness,  so  wonder- 
fully proved  and  chastened  to  them,  I  hope,  by  the  ex- 
periences they  have  shared  on  this  journey. 

"  Barbie  and  Jimmy  have  both  lost  flesh,  but  she  has  a 
beauty  I  never  saw  in  her  face  before  and  you  know  I 
never  was  so  very  humble  about  the  child's  looks.  She  's 
a  dear  child !  —  and  Jimmy  seems  to  have  stretched  up 


266  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

somehow  in  expression  if  not  in  height.  And  his  eyes  are 
a  story  when  he  looks  at  Barbie,  which  is  pretty  much  all 
the  time. 

"  Mr.  Yardley  seems  as  pleased  as  we  are.  I  used  to 
think  he  held  himself  just  a  touch  above  any  of  us  in 
Dugdale,  but  I  was  over-proud  myself,  I  guess.  He  has  a 
manner  that  sets  you  back  sometimes.  I  dare  say  he  don't 
know  it.  To  Barbie  he  's  as  tender  as  a  father  and  be- 
haves quite  like  other  folks,  telling  how  he  saw  her  first 
sitting  on  top  of  one  of  our  old  white  gate-posts;  she 
was  n't  more  than  five.  He  never  noticed  whose  house  he 
was  passing,  being  in  a  brown  study,  but  her  little  face 
and  figure  perched  up  there  struck  him.  He  asked  whose 
little  girl  she  was  —  '  Why,  Mr.  Hanna' ton's  ! '  she  said,  as 
if  anybody  could  tell  him  that.  '  Well,'  said  he,  '  I  think 
"  Mr.  Hanna'ton's  "  little  girl  might  give  the  minister  a 
kiss.'  — '  See  will' ;  she  had  a  doll  in  her  arms  and  made 
him  kiss  Dolly,  too.  I  guess  he  hoped  nobody  saw  him. 
He  laughed  till  the  tears  came  in  his  eyes  when  he  told 
it,  and  owned  that  he  'd  never  told  any  one  before.  Poor 
man! 

"  Jimmy  is  full  of  his  dreams  :  they  are  good,  unworldly 
dreams  such  as  a  man  should  dream  once  in  his  life. 
Barbie  will  never  cramp  him.  I  think  he  has  a  fine  mind, 
more  scope  than  most  of  us,  and  a  will  that  ought  to 
amount  to  something  if  he  uses  it  right.  I  have  no  fears ; 
I  look  to  see  him  one  of  the  able  men  in  this  new  country, 
with  greater  powers  to  come  with  age  and  experience. 
But  hear  me  !  wasting  these  precious  moments  bragging 
about  my  son-in-law ! 

"  We  love  you  all  and  pray  to  see  you  all  again,  and  I 
know  you  never  forget  us.  Think  of  us,  dear  mother,  as 


THE   TRUTH  AS   IT  IS   TOLD          267 

well  and  happy,  standing  the  journey  splendidly  —  and 
near  the  end  !  It  has  taken  all  our  fear  away  and  given 
us  new  strength,  this  great  meeting  with  Dr.  Whitman. 
I  can  see  it  in  the  faces  of  our  men.  If  he  can  do  what  he 
is  setting  out  to  do,  why,  we  ought  to  be  ashamed  if  we 
can't  crawl  sixty  miles,  —  and  then  the  other  part,  which 
is  all  plain  sailing,  —  though  it  may  be  a  little  hard.  The 
others  ahead  of  us  have  all  got  through  :  no  trouble  with 
the  Indians,  though  they  broke  up  into  small  parties.  If 
we  had  known  !  —  what  hours  of  anxiety  we  might  have 
been  spared.  We  know  more  than  we  did  about  a  good 
many  things.  I  don't  try  to  send  messages.  We  just  all 
send  our  love,  and  are  satisfied  that  we  did  well  to  come." 

Oh,  prevaricating  woman  !  "  well  and  happy  "  !  And 
not  one  whit  ashamed  —  out-braving  conscience  on  every 
charge.  "  All  I  've  said  in  so  many  words  is  true,"  she 
would  have  answered.  "  I  do  want  her  to  think  of  us  as 
well  and  happy.  Am  I  going  to  give  poor  mother  such  a 
blow  at  her  age  and  shame  my  husband's  kin  ?  Grandma 
shall  go  on  smiling  and  chuckling  whenever  she  thinks  of 
naughty  pretty  Stella  and  her  '  crooked  stick  at  last.'  " 

Mrs.  Hannington  folded  her  letter.  Barbie  was  holding 
young  Sam  while  his  mother  scrawled  a  page  to  her  mother 
in  Schenectady  ;  a  sudden  stillness  fell  between  the  groups. 

"  Where  's  your  Captain  Bradburn  ?  Is  n't  he  sleeping 
late  this  morning  ?  Is  he  with  you  ?  " 

Lovejoy  asked  the  question  ;  breaths  were  held  awaiting 
the  answer. 

"  He  sleeps,"  said  Mr.  Yardley,  "  on  the  divide  as  you 
go  up  beyond  Powder  River  to  the  east  ";  the  minister's 
look  was  calm.  "  He  left  us  in  a  frame  of  mind,  —  I  can 
but  call  it  lawless,  mocking  at  the  wrath  of  God,  which 


268  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

overtook  him  and  slew  him,  by  means  himself  had  devised  : 
'  For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  perish 
without  law.'  He  lies  buried  on  the  mountain,  but  I  fear 
he  has  not  a  quiet  bed.  Your  question  falls  in  with  my 
thoughts  precisely  as  you  spoke,  Mr.  Lovejoy.  I  was  think- 
ing of  his  wife  ;  he  has  no  children.  Her  home  is  in  the 
East.  A  message  would  reach  her  through  his  business 
address  in  Boston.  I  should  like  to  give  it  to  you,  Dr. 
Whitman,  and  ask  you  to  send  her  this  word  :  '  He  died 
of  a  fatal  disorder  too  long  neglected,  and  was  buried  on 
the  road/  That  is  all  I  think  she  need  know.  I  will  write 
her  on  the  first  opportunity  after  we  arrive  and  account 
for  the  various  matters  between  us  which  leave  us  con- 
siderably in  debt  to  his  estate,  and  for  all  property  of 
his  remaining  in  our  charge.  In  the  mean  time,  I  will 
ask  another  favor :  would  you  give  me  an  order  for  the 
services  of  a  couple  of  trusty  Indians  from  your  mission 
to  go  back  there  and  make  the  interment  more  perma- 
nent, and  recover  anything  of  value  he  had  with  him 
which  the  elements  may  have  spared  ?  " 

Dr.  Whitman  was  impatient  to  be  gone  ;  the  minister 
took  many  words  to  explain  what  his  quick  mind  had  an- 
ticipated. He  was  accustomed  to  death  in  sudden  and 
shocking  forms,  whether  attributable  to  God  directly  or 
in  the  working-out  of  natural  laws;  in  any  case,  the 
thought  was  too  familiar  to  be  dwelt  upon.  He  rubbed  his 
beard  and  glanced  at  the  sunrise  brightening  above  the 
eastern  wall. 

"  How  long  ago  was  this?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  gave  the  date. 

"  My  dear  sir,  there  would  be  nothing  left.  If  the  burial 
at  the  time  was  not  c  permanent '  there  would  be  no  4  re- 


THE  TKUTH  AS  IT  IS  TOLD          269 

mains.'  I  will  give  you  the  order  certainly,  but  our  boys 
would  expect  payment  and  I  count  it  money  thrown  away ; 
and  I  cannot  promise  that  they  would  be  4  trusty  '  —  for 
no  one  could  watch  them." 

The  minister  inclined  his  head  in  silence. 

Dr.  Whitman  held  out  his  hand.  "  Well,  I  must  bid 
you  farewell  — and  *  well '  I  hope  it  may  be,  with  all  of 
you." 

"  Stay,"  said  Mr.  Yardley,  "  we  must  not  forget  there 
are  some  things,  not  the  greatest,  you  have  done  for  us 
that  we  are  able  to  repay.  You  and  the  mission  must  not 
be  left  poorer  for  our  visit ;  you  are  here  to  do  your  work, 
which  is  not  feeding  emigrants.  I  know  it  will  be  merely 
passing  it  on  to  others  whom  you  will  help,  who  may  not 
have  the  means  to  compensate  you.  The  work  of  God 
is  not  cheap  and  a  man  has  but  one  life." 

"  That 's  about  the  way  of  it,"  said  the  doctor  humbly. 
"  We  '11  certainly  try  to  pass  it  on  ;  that 's  what  we  're 
here  for.  But  the  Home  Board  thinks  we  ought  to  be  self- 
supporting,  and  we  're  too  far  away  to  explain.  It 's  partly 
what  I  am  going  East  for  —  to  have  a  few  talks  face  to 
face  with  some  of  the  good  folks  back  there  who  see  us 
from  a  distance  darkly.  We  don't  pretend  to  be  perfect, 
but  we  do  our  best." 


CHAPTER  III 

STILL   WITH   US 

A  NUMBER  of  reasons  united  to  make  our  company's 
choice  of  location  an  unsocial  one.  They  needed  room  for 
adjoining  claims  in  one  tract,  with  home-lots  on  the  river 
where  their  future  town  should  build  itself  and  invite  the 
crafts  and  trades.  Their  numbers  insured  safety  in  isola- 
tion. They  were  Presbyterians  and  we  must  remember 
what  sectarianism  meant  in  the  forties  :  there  was  not  that 
"  gay  condoning  charity  "as  to  shades  of  doctrine,  more 
especially  "  my  neighbor's  "  doctrine,  that  we  boast  of  now. 
Concerning  the  Methodist  brethren  at  the  Falls  :  —  they 
were  not  Catholics  ;  so  much  could  be  said  for  them. 
"  Glory,  honor,  and  peace  to  every  man  that  worketh 
good,"  —  but  St.  Paul  set  Jew  distinctly  before  Gentile  : 
—  "  to  Presbyterians  '  and  also '  Methodists,"  would  have 
ranked  the  denominations,  according  to  a  mind  cultivated 
even  as  our  minister's. 

There  was  a  reason,  touching  those  grave  incidents  on 
the  journey,  for  their  sensitiveness  to  the  curiosity  of 
strangers.  It  would  have  taken  the  minister  himself  to  ex- 
plain, outside  the  membership,  why  they  held  Jimmy 
guilty  yet  blameless  for  his  terrible  deed  ;  and  the  minis- 
ter would  be  the  last  to  try.  Stella,  too :  the  unhappy  girl 
must  be  given  another  chance,  and  how  could  any  woman 
expect  to  have  a  fair  chance  among  respectable  people, 
even  in  a  new  country,  with  a  story  like  hers  in  circu- 
lation ? 


STILL   WITH  US  271 

They  may  never  have  discussed  these  reasons,  but  by 
common  consent  they  cast  their  lot  at  a  safe  distance  from 
gossip,  and  kept  to  themselves,  busy  as  beavers  that  first 
autumn  and  winter :  working  in  friendly  contest,  getting 
out  logs  and  putting  up  cabins,  making  rude  furniture 
of  the  "  settler's  period,"  constructing  farming-tools,  — 
these  were  fireside  industries  during  the  rains ;  breaking 
ground,  planting,  fishing,  hunting,  marrying.  Jimmy, 
with  the  help  of  friends,  expected  to  get  his  cabin  roof  on, 
ready  for  his  bride  in  March. 

In  February  they  were  run  to  earth  by  W.  H.  Gray,  a 
stirring  visitor,  who  rode  up  the  valley  in  search  of  the 
new  colony  and  preached  to  them  of  their  political  duties. 
He  came  for  the  purpose  of  urging  them  to  send  delegates 
or  to  come,  every  man  of  them,  to  the  "  wolf  meeting  "  in 
March.  They  listened  dubiously.  The  object  of  the  gath- 
ering ostensibly  was  to  secure  protection  from  wild  ani- 
mals for  their  increasing  flocks  and  herds,  through  some 
concerted  action  of  the  settlers ;  but  the  opportunity  was 
to  be  improved  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  constitution 
and  laws  under  which  the  Americans,  if  necessary,  could 
unite  against  British  interests  on  the  ground,  and  be  ready 
for  recognition  as  a  new  Territory. 

Our  Eastern  men  brought  with  them  the  conservatism 
of  older  communities ;  fresh  from  British  hospitality,  the 
war  scare  left  them  cold.  Their  wealth  in  flocks  and  herds 
did  not  prey  upon  their  minds,  as  yet ;  nor  had  the  Oregon 
fever  taken  with  them  a  political  turn. 

Mr.  Gray's  answer  was  sarcastic.  "  Well,  my  good 
friends,  I  see  how  it  is  with  you :  '  Ye  can  discern  the 
face  of  the  sky ;  but  ye  cannot  discern  the  signs  of  the 
times.'  I  leave  you  now,  but  I  expect  to  hear  from  you 


272  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

later.  There  were  the  two  sons,  remember  ?  the  one  who 
said,  '  I  go  not,'  —  but  he  went  after  all.  If  you  won't  meet 
with  us  in  March,  we  '11  give  you  another  chance  in  May. 
The  ball  is  just  opening.  "We  have  done  all  those  things 
which  every  newcomer  advises.  Three  years  ago  we  peti- 
tioned Congress,  —  nothing  came  of  it.  We  were  told  to 
consult  with  Commodore  Wilkes; —  fine  man, — guest 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  at  the  time  of  the  conference ;  the 
doctor's  wines  are  good.  This  sounds  like  scandal;  it's 
human  nature,  and  loyalty,  every  man  to  his  side :  for  all 
his  private  benevolence,  the  doctor  is  a  subject  of  Great 
Britain,  and  he 's  pledged  to  carry  out  his  company's  policy 
in  the  Northwest.  Now  we  are  going  to  act  for  ourselves 
and  we  don't  intend  to  advertise  the  fact  more  than 
necessary;  times  are  ticklish.  But  this  year  shall  see 
something  done." 

So  the  world  was  with  them,  after  all. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   WASTERS 

THE  first  wheat- seed  had  been  hardly  more  than  scratched 
into  the  ground  by  means  of  those  hand-made  harrows,  but 
such  was  the  grip  of  fertility  in  that  new  soil,  it  sent  up 
stalks  an  hundred,  a  thousand  fold,  with  the  sun's  energy 
upon  it ;  and  the  straws  were  not  hollow;  they  were  filled 
with  a  pithy  substance  which  gave  to  the  wheat  backbone. 
Seldom  did  a  crop  lodge  in  the  field,  and  as  the  summers 
were  dry  a  farmer  had  time  to  turn  around  in  the  press 
of  work :  he  was  not  hunted  by  his  harvest  in  danger  of 
storms. 

It  was  now  the  last  of  June,  a  forward  season  ;  the  early 
wheat  was  ready  for  the  cradle,  or  the  sickle ;  all  had  not 
been  equally  forehanded  in  the  matter  of  tools,  nor  were 
equally  clever  in  making  them. 

"What  have  you  got  in  that  basket?" 

Susan,  wife  of  Peter  (baptized  Indians  known  as  Susan- 
Peter  and  Peter  Cooniac)  grinned  and  wrinkled  her  two- 
inch  forehead  to  squint  at  the  handsome  white  woman, 
dazzling  in  thin  white  lawn  and  a  pink  sunbonnet. 

"  Show  me,"  Stella  commanded. 

The  cloth  was  raised  ;  underneath,  fresh  baked  rasp- 
berry turn-overs  (wild  raspberries  were  in  fruit)  which 
Mrs.  Hannington  had  made  that  morning  and  was  pack- 
ing off  hot  to  the  young  men  reaping  in  the  upper  fields. 
Sukey  displayed  them  with  pride. 

"Who  for?" 


274  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  Him 4  Sam,'  him  '  Jim.'  " —  A  greasy  forefinger  desig- 
nated each  pie  by  the  name  of  the  donee. 

"  I  take  them,"  said  Stella  coolly. 

"  Me  la-la."  Susan  stood  rooted.  The  white  klooeh- 
man's  charms  made  her  a  vision  worth  stopping  to  gaze  at, 
but  Na-ha  was  very  kind  and  Susan  was  learning  obedi- 
ence. The  basket  was  not  yielded. 

"  Na-ha  (mother)  tell  me  '  go  quick.'  I  go ; "  she  pointed 
towards  the  wheat-fields. 

Stella  closed  the  argument  effectively  on  her  side  by 
taking  the  basket. 

"Klat-a-wah!" 

Sukey  laughed  at  the  Chinook  word.  She  imagined 
Stella  to  be  the  queen  bee  in  this  hive  of  workers.  She 
wore  white  dresses  which  Na-ha  washed.  Na-ha  would 
trust  Sukey  to  wash  her  own  dresses,  but  not  Stella's, 
because  Sukey  scorched  the  best  one  trying  too  hot  an 
iron.  All  the  other  white  kloochmen  worked  like  squaws. 
Therefore,  Sukey  concluded,  she  must  submit  to  the  con- 
fiscation of  her  errand  by  this  princess  of  do-nothing. 
She  walked  away  thoughtful.  Stella  with  the  basket 
strolled  on. 

It  was  past  noon.  The  men  would  have  eaten  their  cold 
dinners  already,  but  pies  were  good  at  any  time.  She 
was  in  no  hurry ;  she  had  come  to  speak  to  Sam  Kiersted 
and  wished  to  see  him  alone.  He  and  Jimmy  were  reap- 
ing in  the  same  field  and  usually  they  lunched  together. 

A  few  steps  farther  on,  a  sound  that  she  knew  made 
her  turn  and  smile.  Out  of  the  oak  openings  sprang  a 
half -grown  fawn,  his  beautiful  proud  head  thrown  back, 
his  breast  shining  like  a  satin  jerkin.  Light  as  the  leap 
of  a  fountain,  a  few  bounds  brought  him  to  her  side  and 


THE   WASTERS  275 

he  would  have  planted  his  forefeet  on  her  shoulders  in 
triumph,  but  she  eluded  him.  They  went  on  together,  a 
lovely  pair. 

This  creature  had  been  the  joy  and  now  was  the  bane 
of  her  existence  —  made  so  by  tyrannous  utilitarians  in 
behalf  of  their  wretched  gardens.  Sam  Kiersted  had  shot 
the  mother  doe  early  that  spring,  —  by  accident,  he  ex- 
cused himself  to  Lottie  who  scolded  him  ;  in  reality  they 
needed  meat.  When  she  asked  what  became  of  the  nurs- 
ing fawn  and  he  told  her,  she  did  not  scold,  but  she  looked 
dark. 

"  Why,  I  'd  love  to  have  had  it  myself." 

"  You  've  got  a  house  and  a  baby  and  me  to  look  after ; 
ain't  that  enough  ?  Stella  saw  me  fetch  it  in  ;  —  the  little 
beggar  came  right  up  to  my  hand  and  followed  me  —  and 
she  asked  for  it.  I  thought 't  would  be  good  for  her  to  have 
something  to  think  about  besides  her  troubles." 

"  I  guess  Mrs.  Hannington  won't  thank  you :  she  '11 
raise  the  fawn  !  " 

"  I  looked  out  for  that :  I  told  Stella  I  would  n't  give  it 
to  her  unless  she  promised  me  to  take  the  whole  care  of 
it  herself." 

Stella  did  so,  faithfully,  thereby  putting  Lottie  in  the 
wrong,  who  had  said  she  would  forget  it  in  a  week.  Every 
one  was  surprised  at  her  constancy  and  said  what  an  ex- 
cellent thing  it  was  for  her  and  such  a  good  sign.  It  was, 
in  fact,  a  sign  of  nothing  but  her  preference  for  playing 
with  pets  rather  than  washing  her  own  white  dresses,  for 
instance,  which  she  wore  with  great  recklessness  this  warm 
weather.  Aunt  Silence  apologized  for  her  looking  so 
"  dressed  up  "  all  the  time ;  she  had  such  a  stock  of  sum- 
mer clothes,  and  so  few  others,  it  seemed  a  pity  not  to  "  get 


276  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

some  good  "  out  of  them ;  and  she  was  so  encouraged  by 
Stella 's  affectionate  ways  with  her  pet,  she  would  have 
washed  her  dresses  gladly  or  done  anything  else  the  girl 
neglected  for  it :  only  she  wished  it  had  n't  been  called 
Nimrod,  —  a  heathenish  name.  "  Daisy  "  would  have  been 
prettier ;  and  the  little  thing's  first  coat  was  all  besprin- 
kled with  white  spots  thick  as  daisies  in  an  old  meadow. 

The  white  stars  were  gone  now :  the  foundling  they  had 
feared  coyotes  might  chase  was  able  to  distance  or  face  its 
enemies.  The  delicate  legs  were  swift  and  strong  as  bow- 
strings and  the  pouncing  hoofs  could  strike  like  arrows  to 
the  mark.  Lottie  Kiersted  lived  in  fear  that  the  unexpected 
creature,  bounding  up  behind  in  sport,  might  deal  her  little 
toddling  Sam  a  fatal  blow,  some  day,  with  those  terrible 
forefeet  which  she  had  seen  kill  a  snake  and  beat  a  dog  to 
death.  The  fences  he  could  not  leap  he  made  a  practice  of 
swimming  around  —  the  water  fences  where  sowed  ground 
came  down  to  the  shore.  He  fed  at  hours  when  no  one  was 
astir  :  he  had  become  a  pest.  Public  sentiment  had  put 
him  beyond  the  pale  where  Stella  followed  him  and  wasted, 
the  house-wives  called  it,  many  an  hour  tampering  with 
his  salvation.  The  field  rejected  him  and  the  forest  knew 
him  not,  and  his  mistress  kept  him  like  a  longing  peri  at 
the  gate.  There  were  small  elements  of  tragedy  in  the  sit- 
uation as  it  grew. 

They  travelled  on  together  towards  the  wheat-fields,  the 
illicit  pair  ;  and  one  of  them  well  knew  her  guilt.  Incident- 
ally they  made  a  picture  a  painter  would  have  raved  over. 

Jimmy  in  his  reaping  had  reached  the  lower  fence  cor- 
ner ;  it  was  a  provisional  fence  of  pine  poles  thrown  up  in 
haste.  At  first  sight  of  the  visitors  he  raised  a  shout: 
"  Drive  him  back !  "  —  without  so  much  as  a  word  of 


THE  WASTERS  277 

greeting.  "  Boor !  "  said  Stella,  thinking  how  handsome  he 
looked  with  his  tall  brown  throat,  and  his  shirt  open,  not 
unlike  a  stag  himself.  She  stopped  and  laughed.  His 
nostrils  whitened. 

"  Stella  !  Don't  you  bring  that  beast  up  here !  I  would  n't 
have  him  find  the  way  into  this  wheat  for  a  hundred  dol- 
lars." 

"  I  did  n't  bring  him ;  he  comes  wherever  I  go.  I  never 
call  him,"  she  said  in  her  wavy  English  intonation. 

"  Stand  aside !  "  was  the  next  order :  Jimmy  threw 
clods  at  the  fawn. 

"  I  shall  not  stand  aside !  Pelt  me,  if  you  choose."  She 
tossed  her  head  and  laughed  at  him,  placing  herself  be- 
tween him  and  his  mark,  and  holding  out  her  skirts  in 
thumb  and  finger  saucily. 

"  I  will,  then,  if  you  say  so :  that  brute 's  got  to  go." 

"  We  '11  both  go,  thank  you.  I  had  some  pie  for  you,  — 
fresh  —  raspberry  turn-overs  !  "  she  called  back.  "  I  '11 
take  them  all  to  Sam  !  " 

Jimmy  continued  to  fire  sods  at  the  fawn ;  and,  to  his 
honest  dismay,  one  struck  close  to  Stella's  feet  in  low  shoes, 
soiling  her  ankles.  He  lifted  his  hat  and  waved  his  best 
apology,  but  they  were  both  angry  and  the  fawn  had  fled. 

The  outcast  came  back  a  few  moments  later  and  pushed 
his  head  over  the  rails  at  another  place,  whimpering  for 
his  mistress.  She  was  seated  beside  Sam  in  the  fence  cor- 
ner watching  him  eat  pie.  He  would  take  only  his  own ; 
she  had  told  her  story,  urging  the  other  one  on  him. 

"  No,  Jim  was  right.  You  no  business  to  bring  that  fel- 
low up  here ;  you'll  get  him  in  the  way  of  jumping  this 
fence,  too.  Can't  you  see  ? —  it  is  n't  fair  to  the  beast.  You 
ought  to  help  him  cure  himself  of  folks  and  let  him  go  back 


278  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

to  his  own.  He  '11  end  in  getting  shot  for  a  confirmed 
nuisance  and  you  '11  be  partly  responsible,  you  know." 

"  Did  n't  you  tell  me  to  be  good  to  him  and  take  care  of 
him  myself  ?  Could  you  be  ugly  to  a  dumb  creature,  turn- 
ing upon  it  all  of  a  sudden,  after  you  had  taught  it  to  love 
you?  I  can't  —  I  love  him,  too.  He's  my  baby ;  he's 
everything  I  've  got." 

"  Well,  that 's  so,"  mumbled  Sam.  "  By  gum,  this  pie 's 
good ! " 

"Take  the  other  one,"  she  laughed.  "It's  contraband 
of  war." 

"  'T  ain't  my  war.  I  'm  a  neutral.  I  don't  side  against 
Jim." 

"  Even  if  it 's  me  ?  " 

"  You  've  got  to  have  a  better  cause  than  this,  young 
lady,  before  I  quit  Jim  for  you.  Now,  you  give  that  one 
to  him  on  your  way  home,  that 's  a  good  girl.  They  are  n't 
your  pies,  you  know." 

"  They  are  if  I  bring  them." 

"  You  make  'em  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  make  pies.  You  ask  that  just  to  tease ; 
you  know  I  can't  do  things  the  other  women  do.  I  'm  a 
waster,  like  Nim." 

"  Why  need  you  be  ?  There  's  a  question  !  " 

"  Because  it 's  too  late  to  be  born  again." 

"  That 's  what  church  folks  deny." 

"  Oh  —  in  that  sense  !  Don't  you  try  to  preach,  Sam : 
it  does  n't  suit  you." 

"  Is  it  preaching  to  have  faith  in  those  we  are  fond 
of?" 

"Speaking  of  me?" 

"  Both  of  you.   Nim  could  learn  to  be  free  and  inde- 


THE   WASTERS  279 

pendent  again,  and  I  think  you  'd  be  just  as  well  off  if  you 
could  let  yourself  be  governed.  You  were  born  to  please ; 
you  could  please  inside  of  rules  just  as  well  as  outside  — 
more." 

"  I  was  born  '  to  point  tbe  moral '  for  you  good  people's 
benefit.  They  —  you  —  are  always  drawing  morals  from 
everything,  even  a  poor  wild  fawn." 

"  Well  if  you  point  the  moral  there 's  no  mistake  you 
'  adorn  the  tale,'  "  said  Sam,  blushing  a  trifle,  but  proud 
of  his  borrowed  wit. 

"Ah,  yes:  I  know  how  to  make  myself  look  well  — 
compared  "  —  she  added  maliciously  and,  with  deeper 
malice  —  "  all  wasted  here,  though  :  you  've  all  got  your 
own  pretty  girls  to  look  at.  Who  wants  to  look  at  me !  " 

"  I  do,  when  I  want  to  see  something  just  plain  pretty : 
when  I  want  to  see  a  good  little  wife  I  look  '  to  hum.' " 

"  Well,  that 's  what  I  call  a  daring  sort  of  thing  to  say ; 
rather  a  back-hander  both  ways.  If  wife  does  n't  mind, 
I  'm  sure  I  don't." 

"  Make  what  you  like  of  it ;  it 's  the  truth.  I  love  my 
wife  and  I  'm  glad  I  married  her,  but  I  know  she  is  n't  the 
handsomest  woman  in  the  world,  and  I  guess  if  she  had 
been  she  'd  have  thought  twice  before  she  took  me." 

"  No  doubt  that 's  the  truth !  "  laughed  Stella.  "  Sam, 
you  are  a  great  person.  I  admire  a  man  who  dares  to  be 
as  simple  as  you  are." 

"  I  am  not  so  blame  simple  as  maybe  you  think  I  am. 
I  don't  flatter  myself,  for  instance,  that  you  're  sitting  here 
delaying  my  work  for  nothing.  What  did  you  come  for  ?  " 

"  Not  to  see  you,  and  yet  I  did,  partly.  I  want  you  to 
come  down  on  the  beach  to-night  —  this  evening  about 
eight  o'clock.  I  want  to  talk  to  you  —  business." 


280  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Eight  o'clock 's  my  bedtime,  pretty  near,"  said  Sam, 
overdoing  his  indifference.  " '  Early  to  bed  and  early  to 
rise '  you  know  '  makes  a  man  healthy  and  wealthy  and 
wise.'  I  'm  healthy  enough,  but  there 's  lots  of  room  for 
the  other  two." 

"  Going  to  bed  at  eight  for  all  the  years  of  your  life 
won't  make  you  as  wealthy  as  I  can,  if  you  '11  come  down 
to-night  and  let  me  make  you  4  wise.' " 

"  You  're  a  mysterious  little  puss,  ain't  you  I  " 

"  I  'm  in  a  hurry  to  tell  you  all  there  is  '  mysterious ' 
about  it ;  but,  as  you  say,  it 's  no  time  now :  policeman 
Yardley  will  be  after  me  and  Nim  again,  if  we  don't  clear 
out.  Good-bye ;  sure  you  won't  take  the  other  pie  ?  You 
need  n't  think  I  'm  going  back  with  it  to  Jimmy." 

"  We  '11  divide,  then,  and  Lott  shall  pay  it  back  to  him  ; 
she  can  make  bully  pies.  Hold  on  a  bit !  —  make  it  seven, 
to-night ;  why  wait  till  eight  ?  " 

"  There 's  a  lovely  moon." 

"  I  don't  go  down  to  look  at  the  moon." 

"  You  can't  see  me  without,  and  you  said  I  was  worth 
looking  at." 

"I  said  when  I  wanted  to  look  at  something  pretty  — 
but  I  don't  sit  up  nights  in  harvest  for  that,"  Sam  ha-ha 'd. 
"  I  thought  this  was  going  to  be  a  present  of  some  wisdom. 
Is  it  your  own  ?  " 

"  I  said  I  would  make  you  rich  if  you  'd  consent  to  be 
wise.  —  Oh,  I  like  to  tease  you,  Sam  !  you  are  so  solid,  so 
satisfied  with  your  lot — your  Lott !  I  love  to  see  if  I 
can't  stir  you  up." 

"  Well,  you  can,"  said  Sam,  with  a  sudden  spark  in  his 
blue  eyes,  "  and  that 's  why  you  had  n't  better  try.  Now, 
trot  along  and  thank  Mrs.  Hannington." 


THE   WASTERS  281 

"  Let 's  divide  Jimmy's  pie ;  yours  was  the  smallest." 
"  You  go  on  home,  you  little  baggage.   I  '11  be  down 
there  this  evening  at  seven,  mind." 

"  Obstinate  old  thing !  "  She  stood  and  ate  the  second 
pie  in  front  of  him,  crushing  the  flaky  pastry  with  her 
perfect  teeth  between  lips  as  red  as  the  raspberry  juice ; 
then  she  sighed,  "  Hah,  that  was  good !  "  and  delicately, 
one  by  one,  she  licked  her  finger  tips,  smiling  at  him.  He 
took  her  by  the  shoulders  and  faced  her  about  towards 
home,  and  as  she  whirled  in  his  grasp  to  laugh  back  at 
him,  the  impulse  to  kiss  her  burned  in  his  silly  face.  He 
saw  that  she  saw  it  and  knew  she  knew  that  much  about 
him  which  his  own  wife  did  not  know,  nor  his  best  friend. 
—  "  But  it  is  n't  true !  she  '11  find  she 's  mistaken,"  Sam 
denied,  kicking  against  the  pricks. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   BUILDERS 

A  ROUGH  cabin  interior  where  two  sweet-faced  women 
were  talking ;  they  looked  both  out  of  place  and  singu- 
larly at  home.  It  was  the  middle  room  of  the  dwelling 
called  the  Long  House  which  the  Hanningtons  and  Yard- 
leys  put  up  the  first  autumn,  to  shelter  both  families  in 
haste.  Jimmy  would  want  his  own  cabin  in  the  spring; 
meantime  they  would  "  make  out "  somehow.  The  room  was 
the  house-place.  Sunday  services  and  Wednesday  prayer- 
meetings  were  held  here,  and  here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton  slept,  apologizing  for  the  fact  by  going  to  bed  later 
and  rising  earlier  than  any  one  else  to  remove  the  traces 
of  their  guilt.  Tooth-brushes  and  nighties  Aunt  Silence 
concealed  as  a  cat  her  recent  family,  but  without  any  of 
Mother  Tabbykin's  shameless  complacency  when  the  affair 
is  brought  to  light.  You  might  come  upon  a  comb  and 
brush  or  some  other  damaging  evidence  in  the  warm  pre- 
cincts of  the  cheerful  day,  but  it  would  hurt  the  dear 
woman's  pride  for  that  day  if  you  did.  The  unrestfulness 
of  this  struggle  to  separate  the  two  main  facts  of  exist- 
ence, and  confine  the  details  of  each  within  its  proper 
sphere,  tired  her  more  than  she  knew,  but  she  endeavored 
not  to  let  it  prey  upon  her  mind.  It  was  one  of  the  "  tem- 
poralities," like  Barbie  having  the  same  room  with  Stella 
all  winter  in  spite  of  vows  previously  exchanged  between 
mother  and  daughter  to  the  contrary ;  or  a  gentlemen  of 
Mr.  Yardley's  antecedents  being  squeezed  into  another 


THE   BUILDERS  283 

little  den  with  one  window,  sleeping  on  a  bunk  beside  his 
long-limbed  son. 

The  apostles  had  their  dungeons,  and  angels  brought 
the  keys  of  release.  Spring  came  like  a  troop  of  angels. 
The  sun  moved  into  Aries  and  flooded  the  cell  with 
warmth,  and  Mr.  Yardley  had  his  son's  room  for  his  com- 
pany ;  satisfaction  was  mutual  and  open  to  admission  on 
both  sides,  —  Jimmy,  the  Benedict,  being  no  subject  for 
commiseration. 

All  this  now  being  settled,  why  should  the  good  man 
move  ?  It  seemed  to  be  expected,  but  with  his  gentle  self- 
absorption  he  was  an  adept  at  putting  questions  by. 

Through  the  open  windows,  voices  of  men  were  heard 
in  the  uplands  calling  to  their  oxen,  rich,  open-air  notes 
against  an  undertone  of  water  that  persisted  without 
change ;  no  cataract,  merely  the  shallow  mountain  river 
playing  with  its  stones  or  sliding  a  few  rapids  in  laughing 
leaps  like  a  child.  Hundreds  of  birds,  attracted  by  the 
settlers'  crops,  were  chirping  and  twittering  in  mad  ex- 
citement over  a  discovery  which  could  n't  be  exploited  too 
soon,  and  must  have  matched  in  their  annals  the  gold  rush 
of  '49.  The  whack  !  whang  !  of  hoes  where  minister  and 
deacon  were  gardening  in  the  home-lot  scarcely  disturbed 
them,  nor  even  the  deacon's  deaconly  profanity.  Our  poor 
settlers  had  not  spare  rags  enough  wherewith  to  dress  a 
scarecrow,  for  the  beggar  Indian  was  ever  at  their  gates ; 
a  sinister  suppliant  dangerous  to  refuse. 

Lying  down  under  protest  at  4  o'clock  of  the  afternoon 
(because  her  daughter  sat  there  to  make  her),  Mrs.  Han- 
nington  works  off  her  frustrate  activity  in  words ;  nervous 
women  talk  most  when  they  are  over-tired. 

"  My  child,  don't  worry  about  your  housekeeping,  espe* 


284  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

cially  now."  She  took  up  a  corner  of  Barbie's  knitting.  — 
"  Are  n't  your  needles  a  little  too  big  for  that  yarn  ?  " 

Barbie  smiled  at  the  parenthesis.  "  I  have  no  house- 
keeping. You  've  taken  it  all  on  you.  Keeping  house  for 
Jimmy  is  nothing,  but  I  did  expect  to  keep  house  for  his 
father.  Either  you've  enticed  the  good  man  from  his 
home  or  there's  something  wrong  about  us:  he  simply 
eats  and  sleeps  over  here." 

"What  does  it  matter  where  he  eats  and  sleeps. 
That  *s  not  the  point  about  Mr.  Yardley." 

"  It 's  the  point  about  a  home  ;  it  shows  that  he  's  more 
at  home  over  here  than  he  is  with  us.  That 's  what 's  agi- 
tating his  daughter-in-law." 

"  Well,  remember  you  are  a  daughter-in-law.  When 
you  were  a  young  girl  sitting  under  his  preaching,  that 
was  another  thing.  He  's  told  me  himself  frequently  that 
you  were  his  choice  above  all  others  for  Jimmy  ;  but  now 
you  're  Jimmy's  wife,  —  that 's  different.  A  daughter-in- 
law  is  an  institution." 

"  Now,  do  I  look  like  an  institution  ?  "  Barbie's  large 
white  apron  came  down  to  the  floor  on  both  sides  of  her 
chair,  but  not  in  front  where  the  increasing  portliness  of 
her  lap  took  it  up.  The  flushed  face  of  a  mother-to-be 
smiled  at  the  mother  emeritus,  thin  and  worn.  Their  deep 
life  wisdom  of  love's  inevitable  price  was  exchanged  in  that 
look  between  them.  If  the  daughter  honored  the  mother 
who  was  done  with  her  part,  the  mother  ached  proudly 
for  the  younger  whose  task  was  but  just  begun. 

"  A  very  good  one,"  Mrs.  Hannington  rejoined.  "  And 
Jimmy 's  another  excellent  institution.  No  one  could 
ask  for  a  better  son-in-law,  but  I  am  afraid  of  him  a 
little  —  just  as  Mr.  Yardley,  I  guess,  is  afraid  of  you. 


THE   BUILDEES  285 

We  're  always  afraid  of  things  we  can't  change  or  get 
rid  of." 

"  Where  did  you  learn  to  talk  like  that,  mummy  ? 
You  've  been  theorizing.  It 's  bad  for  old  ladies." 

"  Well,  you  put  me  here  on  my  back !  If  I  can't  do  my 
work,  I  have  to  lie  and  think  about  it." 

"  Think  and  lie  about  it  you  mean.  You  Ve  never  told 
the  truth  about  your  work  since  you  began  to  have  any. 
You  say  you  don't  do  any  work  !  As  a  fact  you  are  four 
over  here  and  we  are  two,  and  you  are  as  much  alone, 
when  it  comes  to  help,  as  I  am." 

"  Oh,  she  helps,  sometimes." 

"  '  Sometimes  '  is  nothing,  for  you  don't  know  when  the 
time  will  be." 

The  feminine  singular  was  understood  to  mean  Stella, 
whose  name  really  could  not  be  brought  into  these  domes- 
tic conferences  in  which  she  had  no  share,  associated 
always  with  minor  criticism ;  it  did  her  no  good  and  was 
a  corrupting  family  practice.  Still,  they  indulged  in  it  off 
and  on,  keeping  each  other  in  countenance. 

"  Where  is  she  now,  for  instance  ?  Is  she  coming  back 
to  see  about  tea,  or  not  ?  " 

"I  have  n't  seen  her  since  about  eleven.  That  French- 
Indian  fellow  came  to  talk  to  her  and  they  went  off  to- 
gether. She  gave  him  something  to  eat  and  took  her  own 
dinner  at  the  same  time." 

"  I  'm  not  worrying  about  that.  She  's  very  generous 
with  pies  and  cakes  she  does  n't  make  herself." 

"  I  don't  like  the  way  that  sounds,  from  you,  Barbie." 

"  I  'm  not  any  too  good  to  speak  the  truth  about  the 
situation  in  this  house,"  said  Barbie,  undaunted.  "  It 's 
too  much  to  put  up  with.  Either  Stella's  got  to  step 


286  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

around  and  help  you  more  or  we  must  manage  somehow 
to  remind  Mr.  Yardley  where  he  lives." 

"I  won't  have  you  speak  so,  Barbie!"  Silence  half 
rose  from  the  lounge.  "  Your  husband's  father !  I  should 
like  to  know  —  " 

"  Well,  you  're  my  father's  wife,  —  sometime  called  my 
mother.  I  don't  want  you  to  kill  yourself." 

"  Let  things  take  their  course.  I  can  tell  you  just  how 
it  is :  a  man  likes  to  eat  in  the  house  where  he  sleeps. 
It 's  convenient  for  him  Sundays.  He  's  attached  to  that 
room  —  we  're  so  torn  up  anyway ;  if  a  little  rootlet  takes 
a  start  here  or  there  with  old  folks  like  us,  do  let  it  stay ! 
I  feel  for  him  myself.  If  anybody  speaks  to  me  of  a 
change,  if  it 's  only  to  move  a  bed  into  the  next  room, 
I  feel  as  if  I  could  scream." 

"Well,  mother,"  said  Barbie,  a  little  scared,  "I  leave 
the  matter  of  his  sleeping,  though  you  and  father  ought 
to  have  that  room.  That's  your  room.  We  said,  you 
know,  '  just  for  the  winter.' ': 

"  Well,  he  likes  to  come  in  with  father  to  dinner  after 
they  've  been  hoeing  together  all  the  morning  ;  they  have 
such  good  times  talking  gardening." 

"  It  looks  as  if  we  were  both  trying  to  feed  him,  and  he 
was  gently  but  firmly  refusing  my  advances  and  carrying 
on  a  flesh-pot  flirtation  with  my  ma." 

They  chuckled,  as  women  will,  picking  a  man  to  pieces 
whom  they  are  bound  to  reverence  and  obey. 

'•  I  don't  deny  you're  a  better  cook  than  I  am." 

"It  isn't  that;  he  does  n't  know  what  he  eats." 

"  Well,  I  guess  you  do ! "  said  Barbie,  with  towering 
sarcasm. 

"  All  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  it." 


THE   BUILDERS  287 

"  With  what,  mummy,  dear  ?  " 

"  With  what  we  were  talking  about,"  said  Mrs.  Hanning- 
ton,  glancing  about  her  with  restless  eyes. 

"  What  were  we  talking  about?  " 

"  Well  —  most  things  old  wives  say  to  young  ones  could 
just  as  well  be  omitted  ;  I  'm  only  thinking  out  loud.  As  I 
look  back,  it  seems  to  me  I  made  about  all  the  mistakes  a 
woman  could  make.  They  used  to  call  me  house-proud.  I 
can't  forget  how  it  was  our  little  boys  caught  scarlet  fever. 
Little  Johnny  Wilmarth  had  it,  down  street  where  they 
used  to  go  and  play.  The  Wilmarths  did  n't  believe  it  was 
catching.  Johnny  was  n't  very  sick,  but  Mrs.  Wilmarth 
felt  hurt  that  I  did  n't  run  in.  I  was  firm,  though.  But  that 
day  I  thought  my  citron  preserves  were  too  much  conse- 
quence to  leave  to  a  woman  I  had  ;  I  set  her  cutting  carpet 
rags  on  the  back  porch  where  she  could  watch  the  children. 
Maybe  they  would  have  slipped  away  from  me  just  the 
same.  Mrs.  Wilmarth  said  they  came  right  in ;  she  didn't 
prevent  them.  It  wasn't  her  fault,  though  ;  she  was  sincere. 
She  thought  'twas  all  a  notion  that  they  caught  it  there.  / 
knew  it  was  citron  preserves.  That 's  why  I  say,  you  can 
make  your  'creeturly  comforts,'  as  Auntie  Northrup  used 
to  call  them,  cost  a  good  deal  more  than  they  come  to." 

Barbie  listened  without  speaking ;  her  mother  had  not 
finished.  The  thoughts  of  an  active  woman,  with  a  touch  of 
"  temperature,"  who  has  been  persuaded  to  lie  down  on  a 
hot  afternoon,  are  not  to  be  held  against  her.  Aunt  Si- 
lence was  no  babbler  nor  morbid  in  her  memories  as  a  rule. 
This  was  an  old  wound  that  had  never  healed.  She  was  now 
smiling  to  herself  and  breathing  hard,  her  lips  parted. 

"  Poor  Auntie  Northrup ;  her  own  marriage  was  n't  ham- 
pered much  by  '  creeturly  comforts.'  But  she  always  kept 


288  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

her  pride  and  her  good  faith.  No  one  ever  heard  her  con- 
fess by  a  word  that  she  had  anything  to  regret,  though 
Daniel  was  a  notorious  poor  provider  and  left  her  with  three 
sons  to  start  in  life  and  an  invalid  daughter  —  homely  at 
that.  I  dare  say  they  loved  each  other  ;  he  was  weak  and 
complaining  and  she  was  always  well  and  cheerful  as  the 
day  is  long." 

"  But  mother,  dear,  is  Auntie  Northrup  dead?  " 

"  Why,  no,  not  that  I  know  of,  but  we  shall  never  see 
her  again.  I  think  of  them  all  in  Dugdale  as  if  they  were 
long  passed  away.  We  must  seem  like  the  dead  to  them." 
Silence  paused  on  a  quivering  breath.  "  But  memory  is  a 
strange  thing !  So  many  of  our  old  neighbors  were  no  wiser 
than  they  need  to  be  and  no  better,  we  thought,  and  the 
place  was  full  of  gossip  about  one  another's  weaknesses  ; 
and  now,  as  I  look  back,  they  seem  to  have  been  wonder- 
fully good,  clever  folks  in  the  main  ;  there  is  n't  one  I  can't 
recall  some  real  kindness  of,  even  Hannah  Wilmarth.  I 
hope  it  will  be  so  after  death." 

Barbie  leaned  and  looked  into  her  mother's  eyes  with  a 
gaze  fond  yet  searching ;  there  was  something  in  her  man- 
ner that  seemed  strange.  They  said  no  more  for  a  few 
minutes ;  then  Barbie  resumed  in  a  different  key. 

"  You  know  I  don't  worry  about  Jimmy's  comforts.  I 
know  just  what  he  likes  and  he's  got  the  appetite  of  a  wolf 
and  so  have  I.  I  put  up  piles  of  stuff  for  him  to  eat  in  the 
field,  and  we'd  rather  have  wheaten  grits  for  supper  and 
only  three  or  four  things  for  the  kloochman  to  wash  while 
the  man  does  his  chores,  and  go  out  and  sit  by  the  river, 
than  a  stalled  ox  and  —  dishes  to  match,"  she  ended  with 
a  laugh.  "  But  there 's  the  father !  he 's  on  my  mind,  for 
he  says  nothing.  He  simply  does  n't  come  till  near  bedtime 


THE  BUILDERS  289 

for  a  little  call,  when  Jimmy  and  I  are  so  sleepy  we  can 
hardly  hold  our  heads  up.  Ever  so  many  times  I  have 
cooked  things  special  I  thought  he'd  like,  but  he  didn't 
come,  and  I  don't  want  to  ask  him  when  he 's  coming,  for 
that  implies  we  think  he's  likely  not  to." 

"  Well,  listen,"  said  the  mother ;  "  it  has  nothing  to  do 
with  you.  In  spring,  he  'd  come  out  looking  so  cold  of  a 
morning  and  warm  his  back  at  the  fire  before  going  over 
to  your  house.  I  think  he  expected  to  go,  regularly,  but 
we  could  n't  sit  there  with  breakfast  before  us  and  not  ask 
him  to  take  a  cup  of  coffee,  at  least." 

"  Coffee  leads  to  other  things,"  said  Barbie :  "  I  knew  you 
were  corrupting  him,  wicked  woman !  But  that  was  long 
ago  ;  it 's  only  a  step  to  our  coffee,  and  he  does  n't  need  a 
fire  at  his  back  now." 

"  Well,  my  dear,  he's  got  in  the  way  of  it.  Just  leave 
him  be.  It  isn't  worth  arguing  over  and  it  puts  me  out  of 
breath  to  think  about  it." 

"  Are  n't  those  Chinook  ladies  any  good  at  all  ?  "  said 
Barbie  quickly. 

"  Well,  at  a  distance  ;  if  there 's  anything  they  can  do 
outside.  I  sent  Susan-Peter  on  an  errand  up  in  the  fields 
—  "  The  remark  trailed  off.  Mrs.  Hannington  knew  her- 
self culpable  in  the  matter  of  those  pies.  "  She  ought  to 
have  been  back,  but  I  'm  rather  glad  she  is  n't ;  she  makes 
the  whole  house  smell  of  fish." 

"  Br-r-r  I  "  Barbie  shuddered.  "  I  shall  never  eat  fish 
again ! " 

"You  '11  get  over  that"  said  the  mother  wisely. 

"  Mother,  dear,  tell  me  how  you  make  your  short-cake 
rise  so  evenly  in  the  Dutch  oven." 

"  You  don't  want  too  hot  a  fire  at  first.  A  good  bed  of 


290  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

coals  ;  slow,  steady  heat,  so  the  whole  will  rise  at  once  and 
brown  very  lightly  the  last  thing,"  Mrs.  Hannington  ex- 
plained with  unction. 

"  Sounds  easy.  It  means,  I  guess,  starting  a  fire  about 
one  solid  hour  before  you  begin  to  bake,  so  as  to  get 
those  coals,  eh?" 

"  Yes,  I  guess  it  does." 

"  Is  that  why  you  are  so  hot  and  chilly  every  afternoon, 
with  that  queer  thick  look  to  your  skin  ?  "  Barbie  felt  the 
inside  of  her  mother's  hand. 

"  It  may  be  a  little  touch  of  fever,  getting  used  to  the 
climate,"  said  Silence,  who  had  long  known  what  it  was. 
"  It  goes  off  about  two  in  the  morning." 

"  And  about  four  you  get  up  to  start  that  bed  of  coals  ?  " 

"  No,  never  !  Father  makes  the  fire  and  fetches  all  the 
water,  just  as  Jimmy  used  to  —  he's  just  like  a  young 
man.  I  tell  him  it's  our  first  housekeeping  over  again." 

"  Adding  Stella  and  Mr.  Yardley,  and  subtracting  the 
help  and  most  of  the  comforts  —  " 

"  My  dear,  I  don't  worry  about  the  comforts,  and  I  'm 
sure  Mr.  Yardley  adds  nothing  but  pleasure.  Mercy  knows 
he 's  no  trouble,  with  his  absent-minded  ways  !  he 's  such 
a  gentleman;  do  let  him  eat  where  he  pleases." 

"  Mummy,  it's  your  own  guilty  conscience  makes  you 
dust  around  so  for  arguments  ;  you  only  excite  yourself  in 
a  bad  cause.  When  this  family  divided  last  spring,  we 
were  three  and  you  were  three :  now  we  are  two  and  you 
are  four ;  and  it's  Jimmy's  own  father  who  has  gone  over 
to  the  Hanningtons.  How  does  that  look  ?  Have  n't  you 
any  pride  about  your  daughter's  start  in  life  ?  You  don't 
want  me  to  be  a  notorious  failure  that  my  own  husband's 
father  can't  live  with  ?  " 


THE   BUILDERS  291 

"  Are  you  serious,  Barbie  ?  " 

"  Why,  no,  I  guess  not :  —  I  am  serious  about  you." 

Mrs.  Hannington  put  out  her  hand  with  its  heavy  veins 
purpling  the  back,  and  touched  her  daughter's  knee. 

"  You  can't  very  well  have  him,  after  a  while  —  when 
you  '11  be  needing  more  room  yourselves.  It's  just  as  well 
to  begin  the  way  we  are  going  on." 

"  But  we  are  n't  going  on  —  not  this  way.  Everything 
is  piling  up  on  you.  Either  Jimmy  ought  to  speak  to  his 
father  —  " 

"No,  no!  I  won't  have  it.  I  wouldn't  for  the  world 
have  it  brought  up.  He  '11  think  we  're  tired  of  him.  It  '11 
set  him  wondering  whether  he 's  wanted  anywhere.  That 's 
going  to  make  real  trouble." 

"Well,  well,  I  '11  behave,  I  '11  behave  !  "  Barbie  rushed 
to  another  topic.  —  "  What  do  you  suppose  Qui  Court  is 
back  here  for  ?  " 

"  Oh,  there  's  no  telling  what 's  going  on  between  them. 
He 's  found  out  her  connection  with  his  '  chief  ' ;  either  he 
thinks  he  can  get  money  out  of  her  on  some  old  trade  be- 
tween them,  or  she  is  trying  to  use  him  in  some  of  her 
foolish  schemes  :  you  know  what  she  wanted  father  to  do 
about  Bradburn's  property  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes !  "  said  Barbie  loathingly. 

"Well,  it's  hard;  it  is  hard.  I  don't  like  to  see  her 
moping  about  so  discouraged." 

"  Mother,  she  does  n't  mope  when  she  is  doing  what  she 
likes."  Barbie  could  have  added  more. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Silence,  flushing  darkly. 

A  doctor  would  have  had  her  put  to  bed  and  changed 
her  mode  of  life  from  that  hour.  Barbie  felt  there  was 
something  wrong ;  there  should  be  a  change  of  some  kind. 


292  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

But  it  would  not  do  to  try  to  manage  her  mother.  Giving 
orders  in  her  own  house  for  so  many  years,  like  other  habits, 
was  now  taking  its  revenge :  Silence  had  forgotten  what 
a  rest  it  is  simply  to  do  as  you  are  told.  She  attempted 
to  rise,  but  found  herself  unable  to  stand  without  help  ;  a 
dizziness  not  to  be  dissembled  laid  her  low  again,  with 
Barbie  passionately  recriminating. 

"  Mother,  you  will  break  my  heart  if  you  do  this  way. 
You  make  me  feel  as  if  I  had  no  right  to  a  home  of  my 
own.  For  you  to  get  up  and  stoop  over  a  hot  fire,  this 
weather,  with  your  heart  going  like  that  —  it  makes  me 
perfectly  wild !  You  've  got  to  let  it  be  a  rule  that  I  shall 
come  over  every  afternoon." 

"  Come,  then,  dear ;  I  love  to  have  you,'*  Silence  as- 
sented speciously.  She  lay  down  again,  but  as  she  watched 
Barbie  hurrying  to  and  fro  with  her  burdened  step,  doing 
what  her  own  hands  ached  to  do,  the  stubborn  truth  came 
out. 

"  It  is  n't  a  rest,  when  I  borrow  of  you.  I  *m  robbing 
my  grandchild.  Now,  go  on  and  mind  your  business  and 
I  will  manage  mine.  You  '11  have  a  poor  getting-up  if 
you  overwork  now,  and  there's  no  time  after  the  baby 
comes  to  make  up  old  scores.  I  know  what  I  am  talking 
about." 

It  was  late  when  Alvin  went  to  bed  that  night.  The  min- 
ister had  sat  up  writing ;  his  light  shone  through  the  cracks 
in  the  rough  board  partition.  Silence  lay  staring  at  it  a 
long  time.  Alvin  hung  up  a  table-cover  as  a  screen.  He 
spoke  to  her  and  was  startled ;  she  did  not  appear  to  know 
him,  but  came  to  herself  quickly,  saying :  — 

"I  thought  mother  was  sitting  there.  I  must  have 
been  dreaming." 


THE   BUILDERS  293 

She  laughed  softly  and  seemed  feebly  amused  and 
happy.  He  was  dozing  off  when  she  spoke  again. 

"  I  have  such  a  queer  feeling  —  such  a  queer  feeling !  — - 
all  over  me." 

He  asked  her  where  and  she  said, "  In  my  veins,  I  guess," 
and  looked  at  him,  puzzled.  "  Something  seems  to  go  tick, 
tick,  tick ! "  She  could  give  no  clearer  account  of  her 
sensation. 

Alvin  set  it  down  to  nerves;  and  she  was  perhaps  a 
little  "  light-headed." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   GAMBLERS 

SAM  listened  to  his  wife's  chatter  that  evening  and 
watched  her  blythe,  unconscious  motions  about  the  house 
with  an  absorbing  discomfort.  Self-examination  was  not 
his  habit  and  it  worried  him.  He  had  not "  done  anything  " ; 
his  will  was  all  right  and  his  heart  in  the  usual  place,  but 
a  man  need  n't  be  an  ass,  even  if  the  fact  is  not  generally 
known.  Stella  and  her  lazy  seductions  must  be  given  the 
go-by.  Sam  was  clever  enough  to  see  that  she  only  played 
with  him  in  default  of  some  one  she  could  like  better. 
She  was  a  little  baggage;  she  wouldn't  have  minded  if 
he  had  kissed  her,  not  so  much  as  he  minded  now  that  he 
had  wanted  to  —  which,  as  Euclid  puts  it,  is  absurd. 

The  minister  had  laid  it  before  them  as  men,  married 
or  single,  that  this  young  woman  under  a  cloud  in  their 
midst  was  the  ancient  ordeal,  their  share  in  the  debt  of 
Adam.  The  woman  herself  is  the  temptation  ;  she  shall  be 
strong  if  the  man  be  weak,  and  the  serpent  never  dies. 

At  seven  they  were  sitting  peacefully  on  their  doorstep,  a 
model  pair ;  Sam  smoking  a  fresh  clay  pipe,  Sam's  wife 
doing  some  coarse  mending  that  would  not  suffer  through 
fading  daylight. 

"  That  little  woman  never  wastes  a  minute."  Sam  pride- 
fully  inspected  the  work  of  her  hands,  a  huge  patch  she 
had  stitched  onto  the  knee  of  his  plough-pants  "  in  two 
shakes  of  a  lamb's  tail." 

"  I  believe  I  '11  just  run  over  and  sit  with  Mrs.  Hanning- 


THE   GAMBLERS  295 

ton  till  bedtime,"  said  Lottie,  folding  her  clumsy  work. 
"  Barbie  says  she 's  feeling  quite  poorly.  Think  I  'm  mean 
to  go  off  and  leave  you  ?  " 

"  We  '11  walk  over  together,"  said  Sam,  knocking  out  his 
pipe  on  the  doorstep. 

"  What  about  sonny  ?  " 

"  I  guess  that  son  won't  be  heard  from  yet  awhile.  It 's 
a  pretty  night.  Come  !  " 

Lottie  laughed.  She  liked  to  be  dragged  half  off  her  feet 
by  one  of  Sam's  huge  hugs ;  she  liked  to  have  him  follow 
her  about.  "  Oh,  I  guess  he  's  safe.  I  never  saw  such  a 
supper  as  he  ate,  poor  little  fellow!  He  works  all  day 
when  he  is  n't  asleep  —  every  minute  ;  he  works,  for  his 
size,  harder  than  both  of  us  put  together." 

"  Well,  he  'd  better,"  said  Sam.  "  He  '11  have  to  support 
us  in  our  old  age  if  I  give  out." 

"  Yes,  you  look  like  it,"  Lottie  boasted,  casting  on  him 
the  eye  of  fatuous  pride.  "  Maybe  you  ought  n't  to  go  in, 
Sam.  Mrs.  Hannington's  room  is  the  sitting-room.  I  'm 
not  going  to  visit ;  only  to  sit  there  and  spell  Mr.  Han- 
nington  and  see  if  there's  anything  she  '11  let  me  do." 

They  found  their  host  seated  outside  in  a  chair  tipped 
back  against  the  log  wall  of  the  house.  He  greeted  them 
and  made  a  motion  to  close  the  door. 

"  Is  that  Lottie  Kiersted  ?  "  Mrs.  Hannington  spoke 
from  her  couch.  "Ask  her  in,  father,  do!  I'd  love  to  see 
you  Lottie,  if  you  don't  mind  sitting  in  this  close  room. 
It 's  pretty  warm  to-night,  is  n't  it  ?  " 

As  soon  as  Mrs.  Hannington  began  to  speak,  she  be- 
came breathless,  and  she  constantly  moistened  her  lips. 
"I  would  n't  have  known  her  voice,"  thought  Lottie :  she 
was  familiar  enough  with  sick-rooms  to  regard  the  symptom 


296  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

as  a  grave  one.  "  I  wonder  they  don't  notice  it !  I  sup- 
pose, seeing  her  every  day,  they  don't  realize." 

She  passed  into  the  dimly  lighted  room,  after  a  look 
at  her  husband  warning  him  not  to  linger.  The  deacon 
walked  back  a  little  way  with  his  guest  to  spare  the  seem- 
ing dismissal. 

"  She  has  these  poor  nights  right  along,"  he  let  his 
thoughts  speak  for  him.  "  We  '11  have  to  raise  a  doctor 
from  somewhere  if  this  goes  on." 

"  It 's  a  pity  she  can't  doctor  herself.  I  guess  she  knows 
full  more  about  it  than  any  one  around  here." 

"Yes,  but  she  can't,  and  she  tries  to  make  out  it's 
nothing  that  won't  wear  off ;  a  kind  of  low  fever.  Things 
have  just  killed  her,  Sam !  medicine  won't  do  everything." 

"We  know  it,  Mr.  Hannington."  ("Lord!"  thought 
Sam,  "I'm  glad  I  didn't  kiss  her.")  His  face  grew  hot 
while  he  was  speaking.  "  We  all  know  what  your  family 
has  been  through  ;  it 's  the  kind  of  trouble  that  don't  be- 
long to  you  either." 

"  We  can't  say  that,  Sam.  When  things  are  sent  you 
have  to  take  'em.  It 's  a  queer  kink  in  a  family  like  ours, 
it 's  true,  but  I  guess  we  can  live  it  down." 

"  Well,  I  guess  so,"  Sam  could  respond.  ("  My  Lord, 
I'm  glad  I  did  n't  kiss  her!") 

"  I  '11  walk  home  with  your  wife,  Sam.  It  was  good  of 
her  to  come  over.  Mother  likes  to  speak  to  some  one  when 
she 's  lying  there  awake.  She  and  I,  when  we  get  talking, 
we  say  too  much ;  we  work  ourselves  up  over  things  we  'd 
better  leave  alone." 

Sam  strolled  away,  sobered  and  at  peace.  The  trouble 
in  that  house  had  done  him  good :  the  deacon's  simple 
yearning  over  his  wife's  decline,  —  this  was  reality.  Such 


THE   GAMBLERS 


foolery  as  that  silly  pie  frolic  in  the  wheat-field  —  "  moon- 
shine!" He  would  go  home  by  the  shore,  though,  in  case 
Stella  should  be  waiting:  a  promise  is  a  promise.  He 
would  explain  how  Lottie  had  gone  out  and  the  boy  was 
alone.  It  might  be  well  for  the  girl's  own  sake  to  have  a 
few  quiet  words  with  her  to  show  himself  the  hearty  old 
friend  he  always  had  been. 

There  is  wisdom,  he  reflected  further,  turning  over  the 
words  of  her  invitation,  in  neglecting  no  live  opportunity, 
and  the  way  we  come  by  things  is  through  our  friends;  that 
is  how  some  men  get  ahead  so  much  faster  than  others  ; 
any  sort  of  a  friend  may  be  useful.  Bradburn  had  not 
been  too  haughty  in  his  cleverness  to  despise  that  appoint- 
ment with  the  half-breed.  (Sam  was  not  altogether  in  the 
dark  as  to  Stella's  promised  disclosure.)  He  had  delayed 
the  march  a  whole  week,  not  to  miss  those  few  minutes 
across  the  ford  with  Qui  Court.  What  was  good  enough 
for  Bradburn,  no  man  need  turn  up  his  nose  at.  Fellows 
like  that  French-Indian  run  across  many  a  good  thing  a 
steady  worker  tied  down  to  one  job  would  never  hear  of. 
He  had  come  in  the  spring  looking  for  his  chief.  He  had 
gone  as  suddenly,  having  learned  the  general  facts  of 
Bradburn's  death.  Now  he  was  back  in  daily  consultation 
with  her  whom  he  called  his  captain's  "  woman,"  to  whom 
he  appeared  to  have  transferred  his  curious  allegiance. 

There  was  no  reason,  Sam  agreed,  why  he  should  not 
accept  a  favor  in  the  form  of  a  business  tip  from  Stella  ; 
he  had  done  a  good  deal  for  her  first  and  last  —  not 
counting  it,  of  course.  When  she  was  as  weak  as  a  kitten, 
and  as  scared  to  look  down  out  of  her  litter  over  the  preci- 
pices the  horses  went  swinging  past,  had  n't  he  picked  her 
up  and  carried  her  in  his  arms  around  the  ticklish  bends  ! 


298  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

He  had  not  grudged  her  the  use  of  his  muscles ;  she  had 
wit  enough  of  her  own,  he  had  noticed,  when  it  came  to 
getting  what  she  wanted.  Now,  let  her  pay  him  back,  if 
she  felt  inclined  that  way ;  it  might  build  up  her  self- 
respect. 

She  was  there  on  the  beach,  no  longer  expecting  him, 
apparently ;  it  was  nearer  eight  than  seven.  The  moon, 
striving  with  the  long  summer  twilight,  was  high  enough 
above  the  hill  to  throw  a  soft  forecast  of  shadow  over  two 
figures  on  the  stretch  of  grey  pebbles  below.  Nim,  the 
outcast,  had  found  his  clandestine  friend.  He  lay  nuzzling 
up  close  to  her  with  his  head  in  her  lap ;  her  arm  em- 
braced his  neck — shapes  of  nature's  perfection,  both, 
unspoiled  by  work.  Stella's  arm  was  rather  short  below 
the  elbow,  too  short  for  elegance  or  classic  nobility  of 
line ;  it  was  an  arm  of  the  toying  type  that  gives  rise  to 
primitive  impulses  like  a  mother's  mumbling  of  her  babe. 

"  Feel  his  little  horns,"  she  said  in  her  cosey,  casual 
tones;  "they  are  as  big  as  walnuts." 

"  You  are  a  naughty  girl." 

"  What  are  you  ?  do  you  call  this  '  seven '  ?" 

"  Look  at  that  thing  there,  beside  you !  Don't  you 
mean  to  pay  any  attention  to  what 's  said  to  you  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  mean  to  pay  any  attention  to  what  you  say ! 
Come  and  sit  down  with  the  rest  of  us." 

"  You  know  you  '11  be  the  death  of  that  fellow  yet." 

"  So  you  've  told  me  before." 

"  You  can't  give  him  what  belongs  to  him  :  let  him  go 
and  find  it  for  himself.  I  do  hate  to  see  you  play  him 
false ;  luring  him  back  just  for  your  own  pleasure." 

"  I  say  I  dorit,  Sam  !  Is  it  '  luring '  to  go  for  a  walk? 
Have  /got  to  keep  inside  your  stupid  little  fences,  too? 


THE   GAMBLERS  299 

Please  *  sit  down  and  show  less.'  I  can't  talk  to  a  stone 
pillar  with  its  hands  in  its  pockets." 

Sam  sat  down  and  did  violence  to  principle  in  tolerating 
her  other  neighbor,  the  wretched  fawn ;  they  were  a 
thoroughly  reprehensible  pair,  defying  whosoever  should 
look  at  them  to  point  out  where,  in  so  much  that  was 
beautiful  and  natural  and  appealing,  the  wickedness  could 
hide.  The  great  goddess  Rhea,  patroness  of  agriculture 
and  the  wealth  of  cities,  has  her  mysterious  worship  also 
in  the  woods  and  caves. 

"  To  begin  with,"  said  Stella,  settling  herself  for  a 
long  talk,  "  I  'm  going  to  put  my  case  before  you  legally, 
Sam." 

"  Your  *  case '  ?  "  Sam  asked,  bewildered. 

"  My  '  circumstances '  your  friend  Jimmy  Yardley  calls 
it.  Has  a  woman  in  my  'circumstances'  no  rights  —  no 
natural  rights  —  you  law-abiders  are  bound  to  respect  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  rights  you  are  speaking  of." 

"  You  do,  Sam  ;  you  know  what  Mr.  Yardley  is  doing. 
Now,  tell  me :  have  I  no  rights  in  the  property  —  the 
estate — of  the  man  who  meant  to  marry  me?  said  so  not 
once,  but  a  hundred  times  ?  Whose  death  leaves  me  —  as 
I  am  ?  " 

Sam  understood  her  now  :  it  was  not  what  he  had  come 
to  hear,  but  a  good  joke  on  him  ;  her  business  was  first  to 
her,  naturally.  The  hard  tone  she  took  so  easily  towards 
the  past  jarred,  yet  it  was  a  brace  to  his  reflection  and  a 
warning  to  his  credulity.  He  rearranged  his  thoughts  on 
a  matter-of-fact  basis,  much  safer  than  that  give-and-take 
nonsense  that  had  tripped  him  before. 

"  There  would  be  sympathy  with  such  a  case,  depend- 
ing on  the  woman,  of  course  —  her  age,  and  —  But  the 


300  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

law  fights  on  the  side  of  the  family  generally.  The  strong- 
est kind  of  proofs  would  be  called  for." 

"  In  the  case  of  my  father's  estate  '  the  woman '  got  it 
all !  "  Stella  stated,  with  perfect  coolness.  "  The  family 
was  one  orphan  girl "  —  she  pointed  to  herself. 

Sam  winced :  he  was  a  plain  fellow,  but  he  could  not  be 
as  plain  as  she. 

"  Are  they  usually  younger  than  I  am,  Sam  ?  or  any 
more  helpless  ?  Was  there  anything  against  me  before  ? 
Oh,  I  have  no  proofs :  nothing  but  my  bare  word.  I  was 
a  fool  and  lost  my  temper.  —  I  have  n't  got  much,  but  it 's 
always  in  my  way.  —  I  tore  up  a  letter  that  would  have 
fixed  me,  even  in  law.  —  But  what  law  is  there  here  ?  there 
is  only  Mr.  Yardley.  He  is  keeping  account  of  every  cent 
that 's  due  4  the  estate,'  for  the  sake  of  the  widow  —  a  rich 
old  woman,  thousands  of  miles  away.  He  did  n't  love  her ; 
she  bought  him  with  her  money ;  she  has  never  had  a 
child  ;  they  had  n't  lived  together  for  years.  She  let  him 
go  —  with  a  chain  to  his  leg;  she  —  so  virtuous!  She 
would  n't  give  him  a  chance  to  live  an  honest  life.  He 
lied  to  me,  of  course,  but  his  nature  was  honest  because 
he  was  not  afraid.  They  call  her  a  good  woman ;  if  she  is, 
she  ought  to  be  told  about  me  ;  they  ought  not  to  deprive 
her  of  the  right  to  do  me  justice.  Good  people,  I  should 
think,  would  n't  want  to  be  led  into  doing  a  great  wrong.  I 
had  written  her  the  whole  story,  but  uncle  would  n't  allow 
it  to  be  sent.  As  long  as  I  am  under  his  roof,  he  says,  I 
shall  never  with  his  knowledge  profit  by  one  cent  of  what 
was  his.  That  makes  me  a  pauper,  a  slave  —  to  this  life 
I  was  never  meant  for.  I  was  trapped  into  it  by  fate ; 
now  they  bind  it  upon  me.  I  shall  rebel !  Yet  I  am  not 
ungrateful.  Give  me  some  money  of  my  own:  the  first 


THE   GAMBLERS  301 

thing  I  'd  do  with  it  would  be  to  show  Aunt  Silence  what 
I  feel  towards  her." 

"  But  you  don't  need  money  to  do  that,"  said  Sam,  more 
gently.  "  There  are  little  ways  —  women  know  how  to 
show  what  they  feel  —  if  they  feel  it.  Why  can't  you  go 
to  her  now  with  this  mighty  communication,  whatever  it 
is?  she  'd  be  a  lots  better  adviser  than  me." 

"  Ah,  she  's  sick,  poor  dear  !  it 's  too  late ;  and  I  never 
meant  to  anyway.  Going  to  her  means  going  to  uncle. 
Whatever  I  want  to  do  he  'd  see  something  wrong  in  it ; 
have  n't  I  told  you  what  he  said  ?  You  don't  listen,  Sam ; 
you  go  right  on  with  your  own  ideas." 

"  I  am  listening  ;  but  see  here,"  Sam  remembered  him- 
self  suddenly.  "  You  've  been  so  long  over  your  preambles 
—  I  've  got  to  go,  now  ;  the  boy  's  up  there  in  the  house 
alone." 

"  Sit  down,  grandfather  :  I  have  n't  begun  to  talk  yet. 
I  have  n't  told  you  anything." 

"  Stella,"  said  Sam,  gazing  at  her  in  questioning 
wonder  at  her  beauty  and  her  mystery,  as  it  seemed  to 
him,  and  her  hardness ;  so  wrong  and  yet  so  piteous ! 
"  If  you  had  been  born  in  New  England  —  time  they 
believed  in  witches  —  I  believe  your  life  would  n't  have 
been  safe;  you  and  that  creature  that  comes  like  your 
shadow  —  " 

Stella  gave  the  fawn  a  quick  hug. 

"  They  would  have  called  him  your  *  familiar '  with 
hoofs  and  horns." 

"  Would  you  have  helped  to  hang  me,  Sam  ?  Or  would 
you  have  stood  up  for  me  and  been  one  of  the  accused  for 
my  sake?  I  could  believe  it  of  you,  sometimes." 

"  Now,  will  you  send  that  beast  away  ?  " 


302  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"Mystaglet?  —  how  mean  you  are!  The  only  living 
thing  that  asks  nothing  but  my  company ;  that  loves  me 
first  and  best  and  always.  Every  one  of  you  is  first  to 
somebody.  I  have  only  Nim  !  "  She  held  up  the  beautiful 
wild  head  and  kissed  it  between  the  great  dark,  depth- 
less  eyes. 

"  I  wish  I  had  n't  given  him  to  you." 

"  I  wish  so,  too,  now.  We  were  n't  meant  for  fences, 
were  we,  Nimsie  ?  " 

"  Go  on  and  talk  sense  now,  if  you  are  going  to :  I  'm 
in  a  hurry." 

Sam  waited  with  his  head  between  his  hands.  The  girl 
had  a  confusing  charm  that  worked  hypnotically ;  he  felt 
disinclined  to  speak,  yet  resisted  the  spell  of  her  nearness 
by  talking  rudely.  It  was  bothersome  and  it  was  n't  safe. 
She  watched  him  in  silence,  then  she  touched  his  arm  and 
felt  him  start. 

"  Look  at  this !  "  she  pushed  into  his  hand  a  small 
metal  box,  closing  his  fingers  on  it  with  her  own,  a  child- 
ish action,  but  he  shook  her  off. 

"  What  now?"  he  growled. 

"  Old  Bear !  open  it  for  me."  It  took  the  blade  of  his 
jack-knife  to  do  so,  for  the  lid  (it  was  a  gun-cap  box)  had 
been  weather-rusted  and  pressed  in  by  small,  sharp  dents 
resembling  tooth-marks.  It  crossed  his  mind  and  it  made 
him  qualmish,  that  Qui  Court's  many  questions  as  to 
localities  and  where  a  certain  tragedy  occurred  might  have 
had  reference  to  the  recovery  of  this  box.  On  opening  it, 
Stella  exclaimed,  "  Yellow  does  n't  show  by  moonlight, 
but  that 's  gold ;  and  no  one  knows  where  it  came  from 
but  Qui  Court  —  no  one  who  is  living  now." 

Sam  stared  at  the  coarse  grains  of  whitish  yellow  flakes, 


THE  GAMBLERS  303 

and  poked  them  about  with  his  big  finger.  Stella  lifted  a 
thin  scale  with  her  more  delicate  touch. 

"  Feel  of  that ;  you  can  bend  it  like  a  leaf  —  pure,  pure 
gold !  Now,  have  I  told  you  anything  ?  and  you  come 
lumbering  down  here  as  if  it  was  a  favor  to  me.  This 
was  my  captain's  secret  and  now  it 's  mine  —  not  all,  but 
you  shall  have  half  of  my  share  when  we  divide  with  Qui 
Court.  This,"  said  Stella,  "  is  what  he  turned  his  back  on 
to  go  after  me !  do  you  wonder  he  hesitated  ?  he  wanted 
it  for  me,  for  us.  —  Oh,  well,  if  they  had  not  murdered 
him  —  " 

"Stella,  now  you  stop,  my  girl;  you  can't  use  that 
word  to  me." 

"  Well,  let  it  go  !  But  this  would  have  been  secure,  by 
now,  if  he  had  lived.  It  would  have  meant  the  earth  — 
I  was  his  '  queen.'  That 's  all  over  for  me,  but  here  's 
your  fortune,  Sam  ;  Lottie's  fortune  and  a  future  for  your 
children.  Qui  Court  can  be  bought  off  for  a  few  hundreds. 
If  it 's  half  what  he  thought  it  was  you  could  '  wash  '  those 
hundreds  out  of  a  bushel  of  sand ;  you  might  do  it  any 
day  —  any  hour.  How  much  can  a  man  make  in  a  day 
clear,  by  farming,  Sam  ?  " 

"  I  believe  my  soul,  you  are  a  witch !  I  could  be  afraid 
of  you." 

"  And  I  mean  so  well  by  you,"  said  Stella,  with  gen- 
uine sadness  in  her  voice.  "  Of  course  I  'm  thinking  of 
myself,  too  ;  a  woman  can  do  nothing  alone.  Qui  Court 
keeps  at  me :  '  Get  a  partner,  get  a  partner.'  He  won't 
stay  down  there  on  the  ground,  he  says,  if  there 's  no- 
thing to  be  done  ;  he  can't  '  work '  it,  for  that  would  set 
people  to  watching  him,  and  he  's  got  a  squaw  wife  in  the 
mountains ;  she  wants  him  back  to  hunt  this  fall.  He  's 


304  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

the  only  living  person  who  can  take  us  to  the  spot.  I  am 
going  when  you  do,  Sam.  This  is  my  one  chance  of  free- 
dom. I  '11  cook  for  you  —  I  '11  learn,  and  keep  your  camp 
nice  while  you  wash  my  sands  —  our  golden  river.  Now, 
are  you  afraid  of  me,  partner  —  your  little  drudge  ?  Why, 
I  'm  only  nineteen  and  you  are  as  old  —  how  old  are  you, 
Sam?" 

"  Old  enough  to  keep  you  in  order,  my  lady  :  be  quiet 
now ;  I  want  to  think.  In  the  first  place,  I  've  got  no 
money  to  put  into  this  partnership." 

"  You  've  got  these  things,"  she  lifted  in  both  hands 
with  great  glee  one  of  his  huge  fists,  "  and  you  've  got 
this,  if  you  '11  only  use  it." 

The  fist  went  down  of  its  own  limp  weight :  he  was 
magnetized ;  and  she  laid  one  hand  on  his  head  of  curls 
and  rocked  it  saucily. 

"  You  behave  !  I  'm  no  pet  fawn  !  "  Sam  roared. 

He  set  her  off  from  him  by  main  force.  She  became 
grave  at  once  and  bewitchingly  business-like.  He  forgot 
the  dead  owner  of  the  secret  she  was  tempting  him  with  ; 
he  forgot  because  she  forgot ;  she  had  no  more  conscious- 
ness about  it  —  getting  all  she  could  out  of  it  —  than 
the  fawn  when  it  went  up  to  Sam,  after  he  had  killed  its 
mother,  and  nuzzled  in  his  breast. 

"  I  've  got  a  little  money  of  my  own  ;  I  've  been  saving 
it  a  long  time  —  that 's  my  New  England  blood  '  I  guess.' 
It  will  take  us  down  there  and  give  us  a  start.  After  that, 
we  '11  dig  it  like  clams,  with  those  things  ; "  she  indicated 
Sam's  large  paws,  but  without  taking  liberties  this  time. 

"  That 's  all  talk  yet  awhile.  Are  there  any  papers  — 
deeds  of  the  land  or  anything?" 

"  The   land  —  I   don't   know   who   owns   it ;  perhaps 


THE   GAMBLERS  305 

nobody ;  you  can  buy  acres  for  a  song.  By  and  by  —  a 
week  —  a  day  —  after  you  show  them  that  stuff  —  can 
you  guess  what  that  land  will  be  worth  ?  You  won't  need 
to  do  your  own  digging  then." 

"  No  ;  I  guess  a  man  will  have  to  own  a  pistol  then." 

"You  and  I,  two  simple  country  folks,  can  go  down 
there  like  squatters.  It  looks  much  less  like  prospecting 
when  a  man  has  a  woman  along." 

"  You  've  thought  it  all  out,  have  n't  you  ?  " 

"  I  have.  You  can  call  yourself  my  uncle.  I  don't  mean 
anything  but  straight  business :  can  you  doubt  me,  Sam  ? 
Are  n't  you  able  to  see  it  as  straight  as  I  can  ?  " 

"  I  certainly  am  not,"  said  Sam.  "  I  will  go,  but  you 
can't  go  with  me :  you  must  understand  that." 

"But  I  will  go  ;  what 's  to  stop  me  going  down  to  take 
possession  of  my  own  ?  " 

"  That 's  another  question :  if  there  is  a  title  to  this 
discovery  claim  it 's  an  asset  of  his  estate.  You  have  n't 
any  right  to  dispose  of  his  business  secrets,  have  you  ?  " 

"  Be  easy  in  your  mind.  There  is  no  title  till  you  find 
the  gold ;  it 's  Qui  Court's  secret  now.  The  discovery  is 
years  old;  it  was  covered  up  by  the  Indians  from  the 
padres  for  fear  they  would  make  slaves  of  them  to  dig 
that  gold." 

"  I  '11  think  it  over,"  said  Sam,  in  a  maze  ;  —  "  see  what 
Lottie  says  about  it." 

"  Now,  Sam  ;  wait  a  minute.  This  secret  is  not  yours, 
nor  mine,  yet.  Qui  Court  trusted  me  and  I  trust  you : 
you  have  no  right  to  talk  to  Lottie." 

"  Perhaps  that 's  so,"  Sam  assented. 

"  Of  course  it 's  so.  It  must  be  so  !  " 

"But  if  I  should  take  it  up,  there  will  have  to  be 


306  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

conditions  on  my  side  :  first,  I  must  tell  Lottie  where  I  am 
going  and  why ;  second,  that  Indian  and  I  will  go  alone." 

Stella  mused  a  moment  subtly. 

"  Very  well,  if  you  insist  on  barring  me,  though  it  looks 
queer  that  I  can't  pay  a  visit  to  my  own  '  diggings '  be- 
cause you  are  there.  You  take  a  lower  ground,  a  good 
deal,  than  I  do.  I  hope  you  see  that,  my  virtuous  man." 

"  I  see  it :  men  are  lower  than  women  in  some  respects  ; 
it's  a  fact  that's  better  let  alone.  If  you  want  plain 
speaking,  there  it  is.  I  was  n't  born  a  church  member 
nor  a  '  virtuous  man.'  " 

"I  did  n't  mean  a  sneer  ;  I  know  you  are  human,  Sam  : 
that 's  why  I  go  to  you  for  help.  Of  all  the  apostles,  St. 
Paul  was  the  biggest ;  he  was  n't  always  a  saint  nor  a 
virtuous  man.  It  takes  two  men  to  make  a  really  great 
one." 

"  Well,"  said  Sam,  "  I  must  go  home  and  think  it  over. 
There  's  only  one  of  me,  and  he 's  got  to  be  careful  of  him- 
self ;  he  can't  lay  his  foolishness  off  on  t'  other  fellow." 

"  Are  you  going  off  with  my  box  ?  " 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure ! "  Sam  gave  it  back,  with  another 
look  at  those  curious  dents.  Stella's  eyes  followed  his. 
Everything  else,  when  Qui  Court  sought  the  spot,  was 
gone ;  only  this  they  left  with  their  wolfish  marks  upon 
it.  It  was  horrible,  but  it  was  fate  :  so  she  saw  it.  This 
was  the  gift  of  the  mountain  where  he  died,  —  for  her. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CORN   AND   CABBAGES 

LOTTIE  waited  alone  in  the  house  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  for  Sam's  return.  She  had  found  the  bedroom  door 
open,  a  draught  blowing  across  the  baby's  bed ;  it  had 
not  been  properly  latched  and  had  opened  of  itself,  but  if 
he  had  been  there  he  might  have  seen  to  it.  The  baby's 
blanket  was  all  off !  the  window  up,  of  course,  that  sum- 
mer night ;  a  prowling  coyote  might  have  scrambled  in  ; 
Indians  could  have  carried  him  off.  At  this  point  Sam, 
who  was  listening  to  the  recital  of  his  crimes,  broke  into 
a  rude  laugh. 

The  common  matrimonial  quarrel  is  much  too  common 
to  dwell  upon  and  leads  to  less  of  consequence  in  the  case 
of  a  Sam  and  Lottie,  than  is  possible  with  a  more  perilous 
grade  of  stuff ,  they  worked  too  hard  and  slept  too  sound  for 
genuine  nerve-play  to  reach  the  danger  pitch,  and  the  words 
of  unreserved  persons  soon  pass  the  limits  of  language. 
After  Lottie  had  said  her  worst  and  Sam  had  gone  out 
and  banged  the  door  there  remained  only  a  period  of 
sulks  too  inconvenient  to  last.  The  kitchen  stove-pipe 
fell  down  and  Lottie  had  to  ask  Sam's  help  before  she 
could  cook  his  breakfast ;  he  tore  his  thumb  on  an  edge 
of  pipe  and  swore,  and  she  bound  it  up  and  soaked  the  rag 
in  paregoric  by  mistake  for  pain-killer,  which  made  them 
both  laugh.  They  were  children  ,•  they  could  n't  keep  the 
same  frame  of  mind  for  many  hours  consecutively.  That 
evening,  with  her  lapful  of  mending  mostly  of  his  pro- 


308  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

viding,  she  observed,  "  If  I  did  n't  care  anything  about 
you,  of  course  it  would  n't  kill  me  so  not  to  know  what 
you  do.  Nobody  can  scare  me  like  you  can  because  you 
are  all  I  've  got ;  you  and  the  boy." 

"  Come,  Lott,  you  have  n't  acted  much  like  being 
4  scared.'  You  're  all  I  've  got,  too.  What  I  'in  turning 
over  in  mind  now  is  every  bit  for  you.  There 's  no  mystery 
in  it ;  it 's  making  money,  that 's  all.  Now,  will  you  be 
satisfied  ?  " 

"  But  I  was  satisfied :  I  don't  want  money." 

"  Well,  I  do,  then.  I  'm  not  satisfied  to  see  my  wife 
working  all  her  days  the  way  you  're  doing.  We  're  going 
to  be  first-class  folks  and  raise  a  big  family.  I  want  to 
hold  up  my  end  of  the  job  in  good  shape.  This  is  the 
country  for  opportunities,  but  they  ain't  all  in  one  spot." 

Lottie  thought :  "  That  sounds  like  another  move  ;  —  not 
with  Stella  Mutrie  along!  If  he's  fixing  up  anything 
connected  with  her,  I  shall  fight  it  to  the  last." 

For  a  man  with  so  good  a  conscience,  Sam  found  the 
subject  remarkably  difficult  to  handle  with  fairness  to  all 
concerned.  There  was  little  danger  of  Stella's  secret  get- 
ting abroad  through  him ;  he  could  n't  picture  a  worse 
quarter  of  an  hour  than  that  in  store  for  him  when  he 
should  lay  his  plan  in  detail  before  his  wife. 

He  was  not  slow  to  realize  how  impossible  a  partner- 
ship with  Stella  Mutrie,  secret  or  avowed,  would  be  for 
him  if  he  expected  to  live  happy  with  Lottie.  It  took 
longer  to  put  out  of  his  mind  the  dream  as  a  useless 
temptation,  and  longer  still  wholly  to  forgive  Lottie  what 
her  jealousy  was  costing  him.  But  the  honest  fellow  could 
not  pretend  to  be  greatly  surprised  or  shocked  at  her 
primitive  behavior.  Simple  men  are  open  to  this  crude 


CORN  AND   CABBAGES  309 

form  of  marital  compliment.  There  was  a  certain  safety 
and  comfort  in  being  held  tight  in  one  woman's  arms. 

"  I  guess  I  'd  have  been  a  pretty  wild  sort  of  fellow  if 
Lott  had  n't  roped  me  in.  And  high  time,  too  !  Stella 
isn't  safe  to  have  around  for  a  full-blooded  sinner  like 
you,  Samuel." 

So  the  matter  paused,  and  next  he  must  see  Stella  and 
communicate  his  decision.  She  would  take  it  hard,  poor 
lonesome  little  thing.  Lottie  had  to  be  flatly  informed 
(there  was  no  reason  for  lying)  that  another  interview 
with  Stella  would  be  necessary,  —  in  fact,  that  very  even- 
ing. She  flushed  at  this  evidence  that  a  meeting  had  been 
prearranged,  and  left  the  room  quickly.  It  was  her  usual 
time  for  putting  young  Sam  to  bed,  after  a  romp  with  his 
dad,  who  would  carry  him  in  to  his  mother  squealing  with 
joy.  He  saw  her  run  out  and  snatch  the  boy  from  his 
sand-pile  ;  she  swept  in  past  him  without  a  look,  the  child 
fighting  against  capture,  against  rules  with  kisses  added 
for  insult.  They  disappeared  like  any  mother  and  child 
except  his  own.  He  hung  about  awhile  and  finally  went 
off  so  exasperated  at  Lott's  folly  and  nonsense  that  he 
cared  little  what  she  thought. 

The  second  interview  was  no  easier  than  would  be  ex- 
pected. Stella  taunted  him  with  cowardice  and  enlarged 
upon  her  own  hapless  fate,  forever  the  victim  of  circum- 
stance and  the  will  of  others,  till  she  wept ;  and  sitting  so 
near,  with  no  words  to  offer,  simple  Sam  laid  a  big  clumsy 
hand  upon  her  shoulder  which  encouraged  her  to  lean 
against  his  breast. 

The  fawn,  who  had  kept  his  usual  tryst,  rose  quietly 
from  the  edge  of  Stella's  skirt  and  stole  off  up  the  hill 
to  investigate  the  parson's  fences.  Seizing  the  chance  to 


310  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

extricate  himself  from  an  attitude  he  would  not  have 
cared  to  be  seen  in,  Sam  noisily  gave  chase  and  hooted 
the  beast  away. 

Nim  sought  cover  till  the  night  was  again  still:  he  had 
found  the  weak  spot.  At  sunrise  the  garden  was  no  more ; 
—  a  tragedy  in  the  annals  of  a  budding  settlement.  The 
seed  of  that  sweet  corn  just  coming  into  tassel  had  been 
brought  from  the  garden  of  the  old  Dugdale  manse ;  the 
lettuces  and  young  cabbage  plants,  over  which  the  parson 
had  toiled  in  the  hot  sun,  had  borne  up  against  frosts  and 
fowls  of  the  air  and  beasts  of  the  field  and  vermin,  to 
perish  in  a  night  as  a  consequence  of  disobedience  and 
crass  folly.  The  minister  was  human ;  he  loved  sweet  corn 
and  fresh  lettuce,  and  his  words  on  this  occasion  lacked 
a  sense  of  proportion :  nor  was  Stella  backward  in  re- 
sponse. They  had  not  told  her  she  must  keep  curfew 
hours.  Did  they  expect  her  to  change  the  nature  of  the 
fawn  ?  it  must  be  that  or  kill  him !  as  for  a  consistent 
antagonism,  day  after  day,  towards  a  creature  she  loved 
and  had  taught  to  love  her,  it  might  be  possible  for  some, 
but  not  for  her.  The  case,  too,  had  been  taken  out  of  her 
hands  when  they  drove  her  weanling  away  with  sticks 
and  stones. 

"  I  did  n't  shoot  his  mother  and  make  him  dependent 
on  us !  Why  did  you  let  him  live  at  all  ?  Talk  of  the  ten- 
der mercies  of  the  wicked !  —  deliver  me  from  the  mercies 
of  the  good  I  " 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

THE   DEAD   FAWN 

A  THIRD  call  had  reached  the  settlement  for  delegates 
to  Champoeg  with  the  warning  added  that  now  the  hour 
was  come.  Previous  meetings,  to  draw  up  a  constitution 
for  the  future  State  of  Oregon,  had  half  failed  or  not 
quite  finished  the  work,  but  necessary  ground  had  been 
gone  over,  in  close  committee  work.  It  was  now  time  the 
people  were  heard  from. 

Jimmy  had  been  chosen,  almost  by  acclamation,  to  re- 
present the  company  after  his  father  had  declined  the 
nomination,  alleging  as  his  reason  that  he  did  not  care  to 
mix  in  politics.  When  his  son's  name  was  put  up  imme- 
diately after  his  own,  he  knew  what  that  choice  meant. 
It  was  the  first  public  trust  in  the  power  of  the  new 
settlement  to  bestow.  They  could  not  give  him  a  colleague; 
it  was  the  height  of  harvest  and  laborers  were  too  few,  — 
which  made  the  honor  more  unique. 

Barbie  cast  herself  into  her  boy's  arms  at  the  wonder- 
ful news.  They  had  not  dreamed  it  could  be,  nor  any- 
thing like  it,  so  soon.  It  was  a  deliberate  confirmation  of 
that  first  impassioned  acquittal,  which  had  satisfied  neither 
of  them  at  the  time  nor  after.  That  came  from  the  hearts 
of  excited  men ;  this  made  him  their  equal  and  their  ex- 
ponent. It  restored  his  pride  of  citizenship  before  the 
law. 

Sam  Kiersted  found  it  a  help  to  himself  even  in  his 
own  little  questions  —  this  bolt  that  had  struck  Jimmy 


312  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

from  the  blue  :  it  cleared  the  air  tremendously.  It  made 
him  see  there  are  other  prizes  in  life  besides  wealth. 
Gophering  for  gold  looked  small  as  a  man's  dream  beside 
Jimmy's  clean  opportunity ;  hunting  it  on  the  word  of  a 
slippery  half-breed,  leaving  your  wife  behind,  carrying  a 
dead  man's  secret  about  to  share  it  with  that  Indian  and 
the  dead  man's  girl !  A  queer  mess  it  showed  up  by  day- 
light. Different  from  the  way  it  had  looked  on  the  beach 
by  a  spring  moon  with  the  dazzle  of  Stella's  white  arms 
and  her  goddess  head  close  to  your  breast  confusing  your 
better  judgment.  Bah!  bah!  Samuel,  you  are  no  such 
fool  as  that !  You  were  perfectly  straight,  with  that  girl  in 
your  arms  on  the  mountains :  did  your  heart  beat  then 
any  faster  against  your  silly  ass's  ribs  ?  Thus  Sam  shoved 
himself  back  into  the  traces  again,  and  tramped  off  afield. 
He  no  longer  worried  about  Lottie's  sulks.  All  she  wanted 
he  could  give  her  if  he  would  :  it  was  n't  money. 

Nimrod's  raid  on  the  ministerial  corn-patch  occurred  on 
a  Wednesday  night.  Jimmy  was  making  arrangements  to 
start  for  Champoeg  on  Monday,  July  fifth.  He  left  the 
harvest  field  before  sundown,  his  mind  divided  between 
matters  outside  and  in.  Barbie's  apprehensions  for  her 
mother  were  fairly  hunting  her  by  now ;  she  spent  full 
half  of  each  day  at  the  Long  House  doing  as  she  pleased, 
pretty  much.  Silence  had  passed  from  that  former  phase 
of  nervous  irritability  into  a  passiveness  which  no  one 
mistook  for  improvement.  There  were  no  more  arguments 
or  questions :  she  had  folded  the  hands  of  her  spirit  in  an 
ominous  peace.  Jimmy  thought  of  Barbie's  doubled  load 
and  feared  she  was  doing  far  too  much  for  her  own  good, 
but  she  showed  an  obstinacy  equal  to  her  mother's.  He 
could  not  stand  between  them  now.  He  found  ways  of 


THE  DEAD  FAWN  313 

getting  ahead  of  her  and  helping  in  their  own  house, 
though  it  meant  shirking  somewhat  in  the  field.  To  leave, 
with  Sam  in  full  swing,  hurt  his  pride.  Sam  was  in  no 
haste  to  quit :  the  days  were  nearing  their  longest ;  it  was 
also  part  of  his  plan  with  Lottie  in  her  present  mood  to 
let  her  wait  for  him  once  in  a  while ;  he  might  be  the 
more  welcome  when  he  did  come.  He  was  not  going  the 
whole  way  himself  to  "make  up  "  ;  he  was  behaving  like 
a  child,  in  short,  while  chiefly  doing  his  duty  like  a  man. 

"  Well,  I  '11  have  to  give  you  best  again  to-day,  Sam. 
I  've  got  an  engagement  with  myself  at  home." 

"  You  don't  need  to  ask  leave  of  me,"  said  Sam,  "  when 
you  're  ready  to  quit,  best  or  no  best." 

As  he  came  in  sight  of  the  river  through  bordering 
woods,  Jimmy  heard  a  gun  go  off.  The  trail  hugged  the 
edge  of  the  bank  close  under  the  shade  of  some  water- 
side birches.  Following  the  shot  instantly  came  a  woman's 
scream.  He  ran,  and  at  the  first  opening  he  saw  Stella 
Mutrie,  a  white  shape,  flying  towards  the  beach.  The 
boughs  closed,  but  in  that  glimpse  he  had  gathered  the 
whole  scene:  the  river,  glassy,  golden,  with  the  sun  upon 
it  and  a  blood-stained  wake  of  some  wounded  creature 
swimming  slowly  towards  the  hither  shore.  Stella  had  re- 
cognized her  fawn  and  knew  by  the  crimson  bubbles  his 
breath  expelled  that  he  had  got  his  death-wound. 

Creeping  alongshore  under  those  same  birches,  Qui 
Court,  watching  for  plover,  had  marked  a  young  white- 
tail  take  water  from  the  opposite  bank.  His  aim  was  in- 
stinct ;  the  ball  struck  low  and  passed  through  the  crea- 
ture's lungs.  Like  Jimmy  he  then  heard  Stella's  cry,  saw 
her  hands  flung  out,  her  facejof  horror,  and  knew  that 
he  had  done  the  deed  for  her  unhappy  fawn.  Whereupon 


314  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Qui  Court  slipped  prudently  away  and  Jimmy,  gun  on 
shoulder,  came  plunging  into  the  open. 

He  hurried  down  to  the  shore  and,  seeing  it  was  too 
late,  stood  in  silent  pity  watching  the  last  struggle.  Stella 
had  dragged  the  beloved's  head  across  her  knees;  his 
blood  soaked  her  white  lap  and  trickled  through  her 
fingers.  She  never  moved  her  eyes  from  his  great 
speaking  eyes  till  they  were  sightless.  Then  she  turned 
to  Jimmy. 

"Now  are  you  satisfied?  Is  there  anything  else  of 
mine  you  'd  like  to  kill  ?  " 

"  Stella,  you  are  mistaken :  that  was  not  my  shot." 

A  passionate  gesture  with  her  blood-stained  hands  re- 
futed the  statement. 

"  Why,  if  I  had  meant  to  do  it  I  would  have  warned 
you.  And  never  —  before  your  eyes !  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  thought  I  saw,  but  that  shot  came 
from  exactly  where  you  stood." 

"  Some  one  else  must  have  been  there,  too." 

"  You  can  count  yourselves :  who  would  skulk  behind 
you  to  shoot  my  fawn  and  let  it  fall  on  you  ?  You  did 
it,  and  you  stand  there  and  try  to  lie  out  of  it  to  my 
face!" 

The  Long  House  on  the  hill  was  just  above  them.  Bar- 
bie had  left  her  mother  and  run  out  to  learn  the  meaning 
of  that  shot,  and  the  voices  on  the  beach.  Jimmy  had  his 
back  to  her,  but  he  heard  her  call.  Stella  also  heard  and 
started  to  rise.  All  down  the  front  of  her  dress  and  over 
her  breast  and  arms,  she  was  a  sight  of  horror.  With  his 
hands  upon  her  shoulders  Jimmy  forcibly  held  her  down. 
He  answered  his  wife  coolly :  "  Nobody  hurt.  It 's  only 
the  fawn ;  some  one  fired  at  him  by  mistake." 


THE   DEAD   FAWN  315 

"  <  Only  the  fawn ! ' '  Stella  writhed  in  his  grasp. 
"  Liar !  butcher !  As  long  as  I  live  I  shall  never  forget  this 
of  you,  Jimmy  Yardley !  " 

Jimmy  had  now  two  women  on  his  hands  at  once : 
his  startled  wife,  watching  him,  —  who  must  not  see 
Stella  as  she  was,  and  Stella  fighting  like  a  witch,  de- 
termined to  escape  and  rush  up  to  those  two  delicate 
women  with  her  shocking  appearance  and  her  tale  of 
wrong. 

"  Barbie,  I  ask  you  to  go  back,"  he  ordered,  in  a  voice 
which  he  could  use,  but  seldom  did,  to  her.  Barbie  obeyed 
at  once,  trusting  to  know  why  when  the  time  came.  But 
the  wild  thing  in  his  grasp  he  forced  ahead  of  him,  step 
by  step,  holding  her  blood-stained  hands  away  from  him 
—  who  must  presently  meet  his  wife.  He  marched  her  to 
the  water's  edge. 

"  Kneel  down  !  Wash  your  hands  ;  wash  your  face  — 
your  cheek,  there."  He  thrust  her  arms  in  up  to  the  elbow 
and  scrubbed  them  with  beach  sand. 

"  Oh,  heaven  I  What  will  ever  pay  for  this !  "  choked 
the  furious  girl. 

"  Take  off  that  apron.  Now  wash  your  dress.  Get  down 
and  do  what  I  say ;  you  are  not  going  up  there  with  those 
stains  on  you  to  frighten  everybody." 

"  Get  down  yourself  and  wash  your  own  blood-stains, 
assassin  !  they  are  old ;  they  won't  come  out.  —  My  last 
friend,  murdered  for  your  cabbages  !  My  heart  broken  and 
you  make  me  wash  my  clothes !  " 

"  When  your  heart  does  break  you  will  not  talk,"  said 
Jimmy  through  his  teeth.  He  let  her  go.  She  could  have 
killed  him,  yet  her  primitive  nature  owned  the  power  of 
his  sex  over  hers ;  she  envied  the  woman  he  guarded  in 


316  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

his  home,  ruthless  to  all  the  world ;  so  a  man  behaves. 
And  he  had  not  changed  a  tone  of  his  voice. 

A  short  distance  up  the  beach  there  was  a  little  cove 
where  she  sat  out  of  the  wind  and  hugged  herself  and 
brooded  in  dangerous  quiet.  "  What  I  need  I  shall  never 
get  here."  It  was  not  a  husband,  though  some  husbands 
would  have  done ;  it  was  what  Jimmy  was  to  Barbie  in 
spite  of  marriage :  she  wanted  that  fine  flower  of  worship 
at  her  command.  She  had  heard  the  voice  in  which  the 
husband  spoke  to  his  wife ;  she  had  also  observed  how  in- 
stant was  Barbie's  obedience.  Jimmy  had  not  been  waste- 
ful of  that  tone.  "  I  could  obey  a  man  who  had  earned  the 
right  to  speak  to  me  like  that;" — this  was  a  general 
answer  to  imaginary  accusations  in  the  minds  that  came 
in  conflict  with  her  own. 

Jimmy  among  the  younger  men  was  the  one  possessed 
of  that  union  of  fastidiousness,  ideality,  and  force  which 
made  his  regard  worth  winning.  It  was  his  love  she  had 
once  aimed  for,  but  Barbie  won  him  back ;  now  she  had 
nothing  but  his  contempt,  and  not  for  any  one  thing  she 
had  done,  —  for  the  whole  of  her,  what  she  was  and  what 
she  lacked,  to  him.  And  she  must  live  here  and  daily  meet 
his  eyes  with  that  cool  estimate  of  her  back  of  them. 

She  contrasted  the  "  fuss  "  made  over  Barbie  in  her 
delicate  condition  with  the  way  in  which  she  had  been 
tossed  about.  The  bitterness  that  leads  to  crime  was  in  her 
heart,  but  the  Yankee  in  her  blood  sneered  at  any  im- 
agined melodramatic  revenge.  The  cony  are  a  feeble  folk. 
It  was  mischief  —  any  mischief  that  came  to  hand  — 
against  the  heart-breaking  rules  of  this  wilderness  prison, 
that  worked  in  the  bottom  of  her  little  cynic  soul. 

A  pair  of  feet  in  "  stogy  "  boots,  with  the  tread  of  a 


THE   DEAD   FAWN  317 

man  late  for  supper,  came  pounding  down  the  trail  —  the 
same  path  which  Jimmy  had  taken  from  the  uplands. 
Stella  was  very  nearly  in  the  same  spot  where  Qui 
Court  had  lurked  when  he  did  his  work.  She  knew  the 
feet  of  Sam,  and  laughed  subtly. 

"  It 's  all  of  seven  o'clock  :  wifey  has  been  waiting  for 
him.  She  shall  wait  a  little  longer." 

"Sam!"  she  called:  she  could  see  him  plainly  now, 
glowing,  tall,  bare-breasted,  a  god  of  the  fields  ;  he  carried 
a  wheat-cradle  tossed  over  his  shoulder  as  a  girl  slants  her 
parasol. 

When  Sam  heard  her  and  looked  down,  his  first  idea 
of  that  fair  picture  was  that  the  unspeakable  girl  had  been 
in  bathing  with  her  clothes  on  ;  —  it  was  just  like  her ! 
He  blushed  as  he  stared,  and  turned  his  eyes  away ;  to 
his  simple  mind  she  was  scarcely  decent  for  a  grown 
woman  by  daylight,  yet  there  she  stood,  her  thin  clothing 
moulded  upon  her  bust  and  arms  and  noble  hips,  slowly 
rebinding  the  wet  braids  about  her  head,  as  artless  as  a 
child. 

"  Come  down  !  "  she  said.  "  I  must  tell  you  something.'* 
She  began  at  once  and  recited  her  version  of  the  fawn's 
death  in  a  tone  as  lofty  and  impassioned  as  Mary  Stuart 
denouncing  the  murder  of  Eizzio. 

Sam  refused  his  belief  to  her  statement  that  Jimmy  had 
fired  the  shot.  "  He  would  n't  have  done  it  that  way. 
There  must  have  been  some  other  fellow  behind  him  in 
the  trees." 

"  Do  you  know  any  fellow  that  would  skulk  behind  him 
in  the  trees  ?  —  you  know  each  other  pretty  well."  Stella 
was  honest  in  her  charge ;  she  no  more  thought  of  Qui 
Court  than  of  Sam. 


318  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Did  you  ask  him,  up  and  down  ?  " 

"  I  was  there  !  " 

"Well,  did  he  deny  it?" 

"  Of  course  he  denied  it.  Was  the  man  ever  born  who 
would  n't  lie  to  a  woman  to  get  rid  of  her  the  easiest  way  ?  " 

"  It  would  n't  be  the  easiest  way  for  Jim.  —  No ;  there 's 
a  nigger  in  the  wood-pile  somewhere." 

"  I  don't  understand  your  expression,  but  is  there  any 
one  of  you  who  has  Jimmy's  reason  for  doing  it,  or  his 
aim  ?  he  had  to  look  straight  into  the  glare  on  the  river 
with  the  current  moving  fast." 

"  If  he  did  do  it,  he  'd  no  business  to,"  came  the  gruff 
admission,  at  last.  "If  it  had  to  be  done,  the  job  belonged 
to  me :  I  gave  you  the  beast ;  I  'd  have  put  him  out  of 
the  way  not  to  hurt  him  nor  you  either.  I  don't  say  it  is  n't 
hard,  but  it 's  done.  We  better  let  it  drop  now.  Every 
man  makes  his  mistakes." 

"  Mistake  !  Men  don't  shoot  like  that  by  mistake.  And 
then  he  dragged  me  down  to  the  river  and  made  me  wash 
my  clothes.  Look  at  me  I  just  like  sheep  at  sheep-wash- 
ing. He  forced  me  in  up  to  my  waist." 

"What  for?" 

"  Made  me  wash  my  face  and  wash  my  dress  and  tore 
my  apron  off  and  threw  it  away."  Stella  began  to  sob  and 
shiver. 

"  What  for  ?  "  roared  Sam.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  he  's 
crazy  ?  " 

"  Jimmy  —  crazy !  Jimmy  has  got  a  wife  who  hopes  to 
have  a  child.  She  was  not  to  see  me  the  way  I  was  —  my 
poor  Nim's  blood  all  over  me — sacrificed  to  his  cab- 
bages !  If  there  's  any  justice  under  heaven,  that  blood 
will  leave  its  mark  on  the  Yardley  —  " 


THE  DEAD  FAWN  319 

"  Good  God,  hush !  You  stop  saying  those  crazy  things ! 
no  woman  ought  to  talk  like  that.  Jimmy  was  perfectly 
right  —  that  time." 

"  Well,  let  it  be  so,  then,"  Stella  crawled.  "  What  does 
my  talk  matter  ?  every  one  knows  I  've  no  need  to  be 
careful  like  other  women :  I  'm  done  for  here.  Oh,  it  kills 
me  to  stay,  Sam.  There  's  not  a  thing  to  look  forward  to. 
This  is  no  place  for  any  one  but  wives  and  husbands  or 
girls  you  want  for  wives.  Why  do  I  have  to  stay ! "  The 
wail  was  genuine.  "  Why  do  I  have  to  live  ?  "  she  forced 
the  note,  but  Sam's  ear  was  not  critical.  "  Why  did  n't 
you  drop  me  off  when  you  were  carrying  me  round  those 
places  on  the  mountains  ?  I  want  to  be  done  with  it  all ; 
but  I  'm  afraid  to  do  it  myself." 

She  came  to  him  timidly,  putting  out  her  arms.  "  Sam, 
take  me  up  like  you  used  to  and  carry  me  out  a  little  way 
—  there  's  a  deep  spot  out  there.  Just  take  me  and  drop 
me  in.  Won't  you  do  that  one  thing  for  me?  I  '11  forgive 
everybody  if  you  '11  only  just  let  me  slip  out  of  it." 

There  was  no  refusing  the  appeal  of  those  arms,  though 
it  was  not  death  they  asked  for.  Sam  obeyed  the  gesture, 
not  the  words.  It  was  first  aid  to  the  injured  of  the  old 
unschooled  sort,  —  all  risks  of  infection  taken  in  glorious 
ignorance. 

"  You  are  good  to  me,  after  all,"  she  murmured,  cling- 
ing to  the  furnace  of  his  big  breast.  "  Trust  me,  trust  me 
and  come  along !  Why  should  you  all  be  slaves  to  Mr. 
Yardley's  old  idea  ?  there 's  no  freedom  for  any  one  in  a 
life  like  this." 

A  disturbance  in  the  trees  that  stood  breezeless,  gave 
them  a  sudden  start.  Stella  looked  up  at  Sam;  she 
saw  his  eyes  grow  blank  and  his  face  fire  up  with  shame 


320  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

and  fury.  Twisting  away  from  him,  there  was  time  for  one 
glimpse  of  Jimmy  Yardley's  back  before  the  tree-curtain 
closed  again  behind  him.  They  loosed  each  other  foolishly 
and  stood  listening  to  his  spurning  step  tramping  away  on 
the  pebbles. 

Jimmy  had  not  satisfied  his  wife  that  his  conduct  to 
Stella  in  her  trouble  had  been  what  it  should  be  —  "  or 
she  would  n't  have  gone  off  without  telling  any  of  us  about 
it."  It  behooved  him,  Barbie  further  pointed  out,  to  be 
more  than  merely  decent,  after  the  personal  loss  he  and  his 
father  could  lay  to  the  dead  creature's  account. 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  go  and  shed  crocodile's  tears  over 
the  beast  ?  I  've  wished  him  dead  a  hundred  times." 

"And  let  Stella  see  it !  Now  do  go  and  show  her  a  little 
sympathy." 

" 1  have  no  sympathy  for  her  whatever ;  she  is  the  real 
cause  of  it  all." 

"  You  've  done  something,  I  can  see  that,  and  I  don't 
blame  you;  but  do  it  different,  can't  you?" 

Urged  by  a  few  after-pricks  of  his  own,  he  went,  and 
saw  what  he  saw,  and  returned  possessed  by  it  sickeningly 
so  that  he  could  not  talk  :  he  did  not  have  to,  as  it  hap- 
pened. He  and  Barbie  had  gone  back  to  their  own  house 
for  supper  and  Mr.  Hannington,  to  keep  the  subject  from 
annoying  his  wife,  had  followed  Barbie  with  some  do- 
mestic changes  to  discuss,  and  she  was  giving  him  her 
attention. 

The  minister  had  at  last  seen  it  was  time  to  move.  He 
wanted  Jimmy's  help  in  packing  his  books  and  papers. 
Like  other  particular  old  gentlemen,  he  began  long  before- 
hand to  prepare  for  any  dreaded  upheaval  affecting  his 
daily  habits. 


THE   DEAD   FAWN  321 

"You  won't  let  mother  think  it  was  our  proposing?" 
said  Barbie. 

Her  father  assured  her  there  was  no  danger.  "  She 
does  n't  notice  as  she  did.  I  can't  remember  she  was  ever 
like  this  in  any  sickness  before.  She  keeps  brushing  her 
forehead  —  when  there  's  nothing  there ;  not  a  fly  or  any- 
thing !  Have  you  noticed  that  ?  " 

"  What  day  will  Mr.  Yardley  come  over  —  to-morrow?  " 
said  Barbie  gently.  —  "  Sit  down,  father,  dear." 

"  He  said  Sunday  night." 

"  Why  not  Saturday  ?  that  will  give  him  two  days." 

"  He  '11  move  most  of  his  things,  but  he  spoke  of  sleep- 
ing there  Saturday  night.  I  can  rest  all  Sunday.  I  want 
you  to  stay  home  Saturday  night." 

"  But  could  n't  he  come  Saturday  just  as  well?  "  Bar- 
bie persisted.  "  Then  you  could  take  his  room :  you  don't 
need  to  sit  up  all  night." 

"  Oh,  I  shan't  sit  up.  I  '11  bunk  down  somewhere ; 
don't  you  worry.  I  want  to  be,  anyway,  where  I  can  hear 
mother ;  I  don't  hear  very  quick  after  I  get  sound  asleep. 
No,  I  would  n't  like  to  hurry  him.  Let  him  take  his  own 
time." 

Barbie  thought  there  had  been  no  great  rush  about  the 
minister's  move;  but  he  had  felt  out  the  situation  for 
himself ;  the  sacred  laws  had  not  been  violated.  He  had 
also  proposed  that  service  on  Sunday  should  be  held  out 
of  doors  ;  he  made  the  suggestion  in  the  patient's  room, 
and  looked  to  her  for  approval  and  was  disappointed 
that  she  hardly  seemed  to  notice  what  he  said,  but  it  was 
a  great  relief  for  her  sake  to  the  others. 

"  He  sees  things,"  said  the  loyal  old  deacon,  "  give  him 
time." 


322  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

He  was  as  proud  as  the  parent  of  a  backward  child 
whenever  the  parson  "acted  like  other  folks."  Every 
one  knew  that  he  could  preach,  that  his  mind  was  not 
on  common  things,  and  that  his  life  was  beautiful  and 
stainless:  it  was  the  touch  for  human  needs  in  little 
ways  he  lacked  and  they  had  ceased  to  expect  it.  He 
gave  them,  in  giving  himself,  all  he  had  to  give.  He 
would  never  change. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   DELEGATE 

THERE  is  not  much  conversation  on  general  topics  in  a 
wheat-field  after  the  reapers  get  to  work,  but  there  may 
be  a  certain  amount  of  subconscious  thinking  going  on. 
Sam  Kiersted's  mighty  back  and  arms  went  swishing 
through  the  resilient  grain,  twelve  feet  in  a  diagonal 
ahead  of  Jimmy  to  give  room  for  the  sweep  of  his  junior 
stroke.  Jimmy,  slighter  and  less  practised,  was  doing 
his  best  to  keep  the  pace.  He  had  come  to  work  later 
than  Sam  and  hung  his  dinner  pail  as  usual  on  a  bough 
of  the  oak  tree  by  the  spring  where  it  was  their  custom 
to  lunch  together.  Sam  perceived  the  old  friendly  ar- 
rangement held  good ;  he  groaned  in  anticipation  of  that 
meal.  Not  that  he  proposed  to  open  the  subject,  but  he 
was  grindingly  uneasy  until  he  knew  how  Jimmy  was 
going  to  take  it.  Jimmy  would  not  forget  what  he  had 
stumbled  upon  in  the  cove. 

There  was  silence  at  first  between  them,  broken  by 
sounds  of  healthy  mastication.  When  Jimmy  had  finished 
he  said,  "  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you,  Sam." 

Sam's  eyebrows  twitched.  "Now  for  it,"  he  thought, 
and  drank  copiously,  to  hide  his  features. 

"  I  want  you  to  go  down  to  the  Falls  Monday  to  that 
convention  in  my  place." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  Mrs.  Hannington  is  a  very  sick  woman,  and 
she  may  get  worse.  It 's  entirely  too  much  for  Barbie  to 


324  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

be  left  alone.  They  want  you  to  bring  back  a  doctor,  but 
we  don't  let  her  mother  know  we  are  sending." 

"  When  did  you  decide  all  this  ?  " 

"  Yesterday  morning  I  began  to  see  it  was  coming,  only 
the  temptation  to  show  off  as  a  delegate  rather  fooled  me 
at  first.  I  shall  hand  in  my  resignation  to-morrow  at 
meeting.  It  will  save  time  to  have  a  name  ready ;  I  want 
yours." 

"  Why  ?  "  Sam  repeated  suspiciously. 

"  Because  you  are  the  first  man  they  will  think  of  in 
my  place,  but  somebody  has  to  say  so.  They  would  have 
chosen  you  to  begin  with  if  they  had  n't  wanted  a  chance 
to  give  me  a  vote  of  confidence  on  account  of  another 
matter." 

"  Kot!  "  said  Sam.  "  That's  all  moonshine.  I  haven't 
got  half  your  brains  and  you  know  it." 

"  The  Committee  of  Twelve  furnishes  the  brains.  All 
they  need  is  honest  opinions  on  the  constitution  they 
have  drawn  up,  and  the  officers  they  are  choosing  for  the 
people  to  elect.  If  we  can't  spare  but  one  man  he  ought 
to  be  the  one  who  will  represent  us  as  a  company.  The 
parson  's  a  specialist ;  I  'm  no  farmer ;  I  don't  begin  to 
understand  the  interests  of  a  cattle  and  farming  state  as 
you  do." 

"  How  about  the  man's  private  life  ?  " 

"  Well  —  how  about  it  ?  You  know  my  record." 

"  Did  I  dream  it  ?  —  that  you  saw  us  last  evening  in  the 
cove?" 

"  You  did  n't  dream  it,  and  I  don't  forget  it.  I  decided 
this  morning." 

"  I  want  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  this ;  there  's  some- 
thing here  I  don't  understand.  Last  fall,  if  you  remein- 


THE  DELEGATE  325 

ber,  I  spoke  a  few  words  for  you  when  they  had  you  up 
for  trial.  Don't  suppose  they  helped  any,  but  I  did  what 
I  could.  Does  that  stick  in  your  crop  ?  clearing  off  old 
scores,  are  you  ?  " 

"With  what?  the  people's  interests?  That's  their 
money.  In  other  words,  am  I  honest !  " 

"  I  only  asked  the  question." 

**  Did  you  whitewash  me  out  of  friendship,  at  that  meet- 
ing in  Grande  Ronde  ?  " 

The  cases  were  not  exactly  similar  in  Sam's  mind ;  he 
could  not  explain  in  words,  but  he  knew  that  if  he  despised 
a  man,  he  would  n't  care  to  rest  under  an  obligation  to 
him.  Jimmy  had  followed  his  thought  exactly,  and  chose 
to  avoid  that  side  of  the  discussion. 

"  Before  I  take  anything  from  you,  there 's  another  ques- 
tion I  must  ask  —  " 

"  You  don't  take  anything  from  me." 

"  Well,  let  that  pass,  for  the  present.  Did  you  shoot  her 
fawn?" 

"  I  told  her  I  did  not." 

"  Did  you  lie,  then  ?  "  Sam  roared. 

"  —  To  that  girl !  I  lied  to  my  wife,  to  keep  them  apart ; 
that 's  my  affair." 

"  You  are  too  infernal  hard  upon  her.  You  think  she 
seduced  me  —  no  such  thing !  She  has  been  silly  some- 
times, like  a  child  who  loves  a  game  of  romps.  Last  even- 
ing she  was  wet  and  cold,  —  shivering  and  crying  and 
telling  her  troubles.  She  wanted  to  die  right  there  and 
be  done  with  it.  I  took  her  in  my  arms  to  comfort  her." 

Jimmy  smiled :  "  I  have  heard  her  talk  of  dying." 

"  We  'd  better  let  the  subject  drop :  no  two  men  can 
agree  about  the  same  woman." 


326  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  I  think  they  can,  about  some  women." 

Sam  jumped  up  and  stamped  down  his  overalls.  "  I  will 
talk  to  your  father.  If  he  says  —  " 

"  No  you  won't  talk  to  my  father.  If  things  are  as  they 
looked  last  night,  then  you  and  I  shall  talk.  Stella  is 
my  wife's  cousin.  If  you  have  helped  her  to  go  wrong 
again  —  easy,  Sam !  —  wait  till  I  'm  through.  Things  are 
not  as  they  looked !  You  've  nothing  to  say  to  my  father  ; 
he  can't  govern  your  thoughts.  The  fathers  and  mothers 
have  been  worried  enough." 

"  You  may  be  right  on  that  point,"  Sam  admitted  stiffly; 
"  all  the  same,  I  know  what  you  mean.  You  lay  it  all  on 
her.  That  being  so,  I  don't  care  to  take  your  job  on  your 
nomination." 

"  Great  snakes,  I  don't  nominate  anything !  I  'm  not 
even  on  the  committee.  I  won't  vote  for  you  if  you  make 
it  a  personal  matter." 

"  I  will  take  your  vote  if  my  name  's  put  up,  but  I  won 't 
take  this  job  from  you  or  any  man,  as  a  brace  for  my 
moral  character."  Sam  had  delivered  himself  at  last. 

Jimmy  colored  and  laughed.  "You'll  serve,  then? 
that 's  all  I  want  to  know.  Can't  you  see  what  a  pair  of 
asses  we  are !  Come,  let 's  get  to  work." 

They  took  up  their  cradles  and  waded  into  the  grain. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  WIFE   OF  HIS  BOSOM 

BEFORE  he  slept,  however,  Jimmy  was  forced  to  break 
his  own  silence  as  to  Sam's  affair.  The  person  he  naturally 
told  was  his  wife.  Barbie's  grieved  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment when  he  confessed  his  intention  to  resign, 
compelled  some  better  reason  for  it  than  staying  to  help 
her. 

He  found  the  story  a  difficult  one  to  tell  without  alarm- 
ing her  imagination;  possibly  he  laid  on  the  emphasis 
wrong.  It  took  him  a  good  half-hour  to  quiet  her  fears  for 
Lottie's  happiness,  and  he  worked  so  hard,  in  despair  at 
the  wreck  he  had  made  of  his  friend's  character  in  her 
eyes,  that  he  could  see  her  vivid  countenance  begin  to 
change  with  anxiety  for  his  own  ideals : — had  they  shifted 
in  the  last  twelve  hours  ?  Was  it  possible  he  and  she  could 
think  differently  of  a  scene  like  that  he  had  witnessed  be- 
tween Sam  and  Stella  ?  He  had  touched  on  it  so  carefully, 
she  was  convinced  he  kept  back  more  than  he  dared  tell. 
He  assured  her  that  his  own  anchors  held,  but  she  must 
allow  him  to  mark  a  distinction  between  the  two  parties 
to  that  scene:  you  couldn't  have  travelled  in  the  same 
caravan  with  them  all  summer  and  not  feel  pretty  sure 
where  the  mischief  probably  began ;  results  would  be  the 
same,  but  the  measure  of  accountability  must  depend  a 
little  on  previous  character,  said  he. 

Barbie  mused:  " It 's  a  totally  different  point  of  view. 
There  must  be  something  that  supports  her:  how  can  she 


328  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

live  under  what  she  knows  that  we  all  know  about  her  ? 
She  really  would  die  of  it,  you  know ,  she  'd  show  it  in 
some  way.  Stella  is  growing  fat !  " 

"Stella  is  perfectly  reckless;  she  gambles  on  every 
chance  that  comes  her  way.  Sam  is  a  worker  and  he 's  got 
the  real  things  to  work  for.  He  '11  do  a  lot  of  thinking  on 
that  ride.  He  '11  be  thrown  with  men  who  don't  suspect 
what  an  ass  he  can  make  of  himself,  and  he  '11  forget  it 
too." 

"  I  wonder  if  anything  can  ever  change  her  ?  " 

"Not  while  she  flatters  herself  that  power  is  enough. 
Money  is  her  kind  of  power :  for  the  sake  of  money  she  '11 
give  all  she  is  and  all  she 's  got  at  the  moment,  —  at  any 
moment." 

"  I  think  you  are  wrong — about  the  money  —  all  wrong. 
She  wants  life,  and  a  woman's  life  is  — love,"  said  Barbie 
shyly.  u  Stella  has  never  been  loved." 

"  Well,  she  might  have  been." 

"  I  don't  know  how !  Her  mother  died ;  her  father  may 
have  loved  her  in  a  coarse  way  —  he  shamefully  neglected 
her.  If  she  had  been  even  half  as  good  as  her  own  mother, 
the  way  she  was  brought  up  would  have  ruined  her.  Father 
took  her  for  duty's  sake.  Mother  loves  her,  but  not  as  she 
loves  me.  Who  does  love  Stella  ?  who  can  love  her,  here  ? 
Why  shouldn't  she  go  —  and  find  her  own  life  some- 
where? " 

"  She  won't,  and  I  dare  say  can't,  work  for  her  living : 
that  would  n't  be  life  to  her.  I  tell  you,  money  is  the  ne- 
cessity of  her  being;  she  figured  that  out  long  ago." 

"  —  When  she  would  have  married  you  ?  how  much 
money  had  you  to  give  her !  " 

"  She  would  n't  have  married  me ;  she  might  have  said 


THE  WIFE  OF  HIS   BOSOM  329 

so,  but  she  'd  have  jilted  me,  as  she  did  Horace,  the  mo- 
ment she  found  she  could  do  better." 

"  She  would  have  been  satisfied  with  you,  Jimmy,  if 
you  had  truly  loved  her." 

"  Then  she  wouldn't  have  been  satisfied  very  long.  I  am 
not  generous  enough  to  sell  my  birthright  for  a  mess  of 
pottage  and  stick  to  my  bargain  without  growls." 

Barbie  went  inside  to  make  her  customary  preparations 
for  next  morning's  early  breakfast,  and  Jimmy  followed. 

"  Would  it  be  any  easier  for  you,  while  your  mother  is 
sick,  to  feed  me  over  there  ?  You  are  there  so  much  of  the 
time." 

"  No,  it 's  the  greatest  rest  —  it 's  the  only  rest  to  come 
back  here.  It 's  so  uncomplicated  with  only  you,  Jimmy." 

Then  she  remembered  that  his  father  would  soon  be 
added  unto  them  and  the  vague  dread  of  it  made  her  see 
what  her  mother  had  been  doing,  that  they  might  have 
this  normal  beginning  by  themselves.  She  was  mistaken, 
though,  as  to  its  having  been  such  a  cross :  persons  getting 
on  in  years  enjoy  each  other's  company;  a  wealth  of  asso- 
ciations these  old  friends  had  stored  away  in  common  fur- 
nished their  daily  intercourse  with  allusions  which  their 
children  could  not  share. 

"  I  think,"  said  Jimmy,  "  we  are  about  as  complicated 
as  we  know  how  to  be." 

"We're  learning: — you  learned  something,  sonny, 
when  you  made  this  chair  !  "  Barbie  stuck  out  the  toes  of 
her  little  moccasins  which  she  wore  as  a  rest  to  swollen 
feet ;  they  could  barely  reach  the  floor.  The  Yardleys  were 
long  men  ;  —  few  men  of  any  size  can  grasp  the  scheme  of  a 
chair  low  enough  for  a  woman's  comfort.  Jimmy  had  made 
these  "  seats  of  the  mighty,"  as  Barbie  called  them,  in 


330  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

the  evenings  of  that  first  huddled  winter,  in  the  Long 
House. 

"  I  learned  the  mystery  of  a  girl's  mind,"  said  he.  "  If 
I  was  n't  building  them  right,  why  could  n't  the  girl  have 
said  so?  she  was  there  watching  me  all  the  time.  And 
when  they  were  all  done,  she  made  fun  of  me !  but  you 
were  n't  pleased,  miss ;  I  saw  that  plain  enough." 

"  They  were  not  my  chairs ;  they  were  Yardley  and 
Yardley's  chairs  —  all  hickory  and  a  yard  wide  1 " 

"  Well,  come  now,  Mrs.  Yardley,  is  there  anything 
wrong  with  this  footstool,  that  makes  you  look  like  a 
crowned  queen  sitting  there  ridiculing  your  consort  ?  It 's 
in  the  order  of  things  that  a  man  builds  his  first  wife's 
throne  too  high  and  has  to  add  a  footstool  —  when  she 
does  n't  make  a  footstool  of  him." 

"  Next  time,"  said  Barbie,  giggling,  "  you  'd  better 
marry  a  woman  of  Brobdingnag  and  sit  in  her  lap.  She  '11 
say,  '  Take  that  thing  away  I  what  a  poor  little  doll  your 
first  must  have  been.' " 

"I  shall  tell  her  you  were  a  dwarf  with  an  evil  wit 
twice  your  size.  My  next  is  going  to  be  stupid.  I  shall 
pick  a  woman  who  can't  answer  back." 

"  What  a  nice  time  you  will  have.  I  wish  I  had  married 
a  troll ;  he  'd  be  so  handy  to  bring  in  wood." 

"  Yes  ;  and  eat  more  than  you  could  cook  if  you  worked 
nights  and  Sundays.  You  'd  better  be  satisfied  with  a  man 
of  your  own  size.  I  like  a  woman  about  this  size !  " 

He  took  the  footstool's  place  and  laid  his  brown  head 
on  her  knees. 

"  Now,  seriously,"  she  said,  moving  her  hands  over  his 
hair  —  "Harder!  rub,  don't  tickle!"  —  she  rubbed  and 
continued :  "  I  won't  disguise  from  you,  Jimsey,  that  I 


THE   WIFE   OF   HIS   BOSOM  331 

think  you  did  the  right  thing,  but  it 's  wrong  that  you 
should  have  had  to  do  it  for  such  a  reason.  You  are  the 
man  to  go,  and  you  don't  stay  because  you  married  a 
woman  of  your  own  size.  Do  you  ?  " 

"  My  dear  girl,  I  told  you  so,  but  if  I  allowed  Sam  to 
think  he  was  being  managed  by  his  little  brother  for  the 
good  of  his  soul  he  'd  see  me  in  Jericho  before  he  'd  stir  a 
peg.  Yet  I  was  honest.  I  did  think — and  I  do — that 
he's  a  better  choice  all  around  than  me." 

"  But  you  would  have  gone  ?  otherwise  I  must  say  you 
are  starting  wrong.  Country  does  come  before  family  with 
our  stock  —  it  used  to :  my  old  Colonel  Grandfather  Trum- 
bull  went  to  war  and  his  wife  stayed  home  and  did  more 
in  one  day,  I  guess,  than  her  feeble  descendant  can  do  in 
a  week;  and  he  was  on  the  '  Board,'  if  that 's  what  you  call 
it,  of  Selectmen ;  they  selected  him  year  after  year,  and 
his  boys  of  twelve  and  fourteen  ran  the  farm.  They  didn't 
make  money,  but  they  were  folks.  I  liked  the  way  that 
Mr.  Gray  talked  last  spring,  did  n't  you?" 

"  I  did :  I  '11  go  next  time  they  give  me  a  chance ;  but 
the  case  indicated,  as  the  doctors  say,  a  change  for  Sam 
and  a  tonic  for  his  moral  system." 

"  Well,  that's  settled,  then.  You  did  do  it  for  Sam." 

"  I  suppose  I  did  —  and  yet,  I  say,  I  was  indifferent 
honest." 

"  As  honest  as  a  man  need  be  if  he  can  honestly  say 
he  's  giving  his  chance  to  his  friend  ?  " 

"But  why  say  it?" 

"  —  To  his  wife,  can't  a  man  say  it  ?  The  tonic  I  need 
for  my  moral  system  is  to  be  proud  of  you.  Don't  be 
afraid,  Jimsey !  I  shall  not  prepare  a  pedestal  for  you 
yet  awhile." 


CHAPTER  XI 

SYMPTOMS   OF  A  CHANGE 

AT  the  open-air  service  on  Sunday  morning,  before  the 
text  was  given  out,  Mr.  Yardley  read  his  son's  letter  aloud 
with  its  acknowledgments  due  the  honor  he  therein  re- 
signed and  his  apologies  for  declining  at  this  late  day  to 
serve.  At  the  words  "  serious  illness  in  the  family,"  eyes 
were  turned  soberly  on  Deacon  Hannington  who  sat  with 
bent  head,  working  his  hands  on  the  top  of  his  Sunday 
cane ;  he  had  placed  his  chair  in  the  doorway  between 
the  sound  of  his  wife's  sick  breathing  and  the  minister's 
voice  outside. 

There  was  a  meeting  under  the  trees  after  service  to 
consider  the  choice  of  a  substitute.  As  time  was  short  and 
the  committee  wanted  their  dinners,  the  proceedings  did 
not  detain  them  long :  Jimmy  had  already  primed  them 
individually.  It  was  Mr.  Yardley  who  proposed  Samuel 
Kiersted  in  his  son's  place,  and  Sam  was  a  delegate  be- 
fore he  knew  it. 

A  feeling  of  awkwardness  (meanness  and  wrath),  in 
Jimmy's  presence,  still  annoyed  him.  He  felt  better,  how- 
ever, when  the  other  men  came  up  to  congratulate  him 
frankly  and  cordially,  and  he  saw  his  wife  flushed  with 
pride,  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  women  pretending  to  pity 
her  coming  loneliness,  when  each  was  envying  her  the 
honor  for  her  husband. 

Lottie's  face  shone  with  excitement :  "  Why,  I  never 
was  so  thunder-struck  in  my  life !  I  was  going  to  make 


SYMPTOMS   OF  A  CHANGE  333 

plum-jam  on  Monday.  Peter  Cooniac  said  there  's  buckets 
of  wild  plums  only  five  or  six  miles  up  the  old  Indian  trail." 

"  Well,  you  '11  have  all  the  more  time,  with  no  meals  to 
get." 

"  I  suppose  I  might  go  on  and  do  it,  though  I  feel 
so  upset!  Sam  will  have  to  get  off  early.  Susan-Peter 
promised  she  'd  bring  me  a  lot  of  those  plums  to-morrow." 

"Picked  on  Sunday?"  one  of  the  housewives  whis- 
pered. 

Lottie  bridled.  "  I  did  n't  tell  her  when  to  pick  'em.  I 
guess  I  could  n't  very  well  prevent  it  if  she  did.  Better 
folks  than  I  be  have  eat  fruit  picked  on  the  Sabbath." 

"  Just  a  meal,  perhaps,  but  to  lay  in  your  winter  sup- 
ply !  Of  course,  if  she  gives  them  — " 

44  She  give 'em  !    She '11  be  paid !" 

"  I  would  n't  really  want  to  pay  her :  that  makes  it  a 
regular  business  transaction." 

"  Well,  I  don't  trouble  myself  how  other  people  do 
business,  Sundays  or  week-days ;  but  if  I  take  anything 
from  an  Indian  I  expect  to  pay  for  it,  soon  or  late." 

Saturday  was  a  disturbed  night  for  Mr.  Hannington, 
while  Barbie  rested  at  home.  Sunday  would  be  her  watch- 
night.  She  rejoiced  that  her  father  could  now  have  a 
room  to  himself,  and  she  made  haste  to  move  him  and 
arrange  his  clothes  on  the  empty  shelves  that  had  held  the 
minister's  works  on  theology.  Stella  had  been  missing 
after  service,  but  came  in  and  helped  Barbie  get  supper, 
very  sweetly,  in  silence.  More  than  once  she  had  offered 
to  sit  up  with  her  aunt  for  part  of  the  night,  but  Barbie, 
meanly  she  owned,  distrusted  her  nursing.  That  evening, 
when  she  offered  again,  her  manner  was  such  that  Barbie 
could  no  longer  refuse.  The  girls  spoke  in  low  voices, 


334  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

standing  by  the  door  of  Stella's  room.  Barbie  moved  to 
go  inside  where  they  might  consult  without  disturbing  her 
mother,  when  Stella  quietly  pushed  the  door  shut. 

"  Let  us  go  outside  and  talk  ,  my  room  is  breathless  ; 
it  will  be  cooler  after  a  while.  I'll  sit  up  till  two 
o'clock ;  and  now  you  go  home.  You  'd  rather,  would  n't 
you?" 

"  Yes,  I  think  so.  I  '11  be  back,  then,  at  two ,  and  thank 
you,  Stella." 

They  were  now  outside  where  the  trees  and  the  faint 
distant  churning  of  the  rapids  filled  the  evening  silence. 
Barbie  sighed :  All,  all  was  so  beautiful,  so  full  of 
promise  for  the  future.  It  was  so  close  even  now  to  the 
heart's  desire  ,  but  for  this ! 

"  For  mother's  sake,  Stella,  because  we  are  one  family ; 
—  for  peace'  sake,  won't  you  try  not  to  think  that  of 
Jimmy  ?  I  don't  say  he 's  too  good  to  do  it,  but  he  never 
would  have  denied  it.  It 's  dreadful  for  you  to  feel  that 
way  towards  some  one  you  have  to  speak  to  all  the  time." 
"  I  shall  have  very  little  to  say  to  your  husband  after 
this,"  Stella  answered  in  a  controlled  tone  without  feel- 
ing ;  "  but  the  sun  does  n't  rise  and  set  upon  his  head  for 
every  woman,  you  must  remember :  I  shall  have  faith  in 
a  few  things  still." 

Barbie  caught  her  breath  after  this  slap.  She  remained 
looking  off  at  the  river  to  regain  composure  before  meet- 
ing her  keen-eyed  husband.  In  that  moment  Stella  came 
back  as  if  on  purpose  to  add :  — 

"  Saying  we  are  a  family  can't  make  us  one,  you  know. 
We  can't  help  being  a  human  family ;  but  think  of  my 
father  and  Jimmy's  father !  Is  it  any  wonder  their  chil- 
dren can't  get  on  together?  " 


SYMPTOMS  OF  A  CHANGE  335 

"  That  seems  a  very  wise  thing  to  say.  I  will  try  to 
remember  it,"  said  Barbie  with  equal  coolness. 

"  Well,  thank  you.  Barbie,"  said  Stella,  changing  her 
tone.  "  I  always  thought  you  were  one  of  the  best  girls 
that  ever  lived.  That 's  why  we  can't  get  on  together. 
Good-night." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   EMPTY   BEDROOM 

FOR  weeks  they  had  said,  each  evening  after  the  wind 
fell,  "This  will  be  the  hottest  night  we  have  had,"  but 
that  Sunday  night  was  hot  beyond  comparison.  Doors 
stood  wide  and  every  open  window  of  the  small  cabins 
gaped  for  air.  Only  Stella's  door  of  her  bedroom  in  the 
Long  House  she  closed  herself  after  midnight.  Inside,  in 
semi-darkness,  she  changed  her  dress,  adding  the  articles 
she  took  off  to  a  large  bundle  which  she  lifted  over  the 
narrow  window-sill  and  pushed  out ;  hands  below  received 
it  and  steps  moved  cautiously  away.  Very  faintly  from  the 
wood  trail  came  a  stir  of  horses'  feet ;  leaves  of  the  late 
summer  were  beginning  to  fall;  one  could  almost  hear 
them  dropping  in  the  stillness. 

Stella  was  now  merely  waiting.  Her  watch  no  longer 
occupied  her  mind ;  it  had  been  but  a  subterfuge  —  she 
shrank  at  nothing.  Yet,  in  her  fashion,  she  loved  Aunt 
Silence ;  this  sickness  grieved  and  oppressed  her,  with- 
out in  the  slightest  influencing  her  personal  plans  except 
that  the  dreams  which  inflated  her  imagination  included 
something  which  she  longed  to  do  for  her  best  friend  on 
earth. 

She  returned  to  the  sick-room  and  stood  by  the  bed  lis- 
tening. Sightless  and  deaf  to  the  actual,  Aunt  Silence 
lay,  her  eyes  unclosed,  going  over  aloud  in  the  blood-chill- 
ing tones  of  delirium,  that  old  track  her  thoughts  had 
worn  in  hours  of  destructive  dread  and  secrecy. 


THE  EMPTY  BEDEOOM  337 

"  Aunt  Silence  will  not  live  long,  here,  if  she  has  to 
stay :  they  killed  her  when  they  brought  her  away  from 
home."  Self  can  always  find  a  refuge  for  self,  when  causes 
are  sought  for  mischief  done  to  others.  Stella  did  not  con- 
nect herself  as  a  contributive  agent  with  this  mysterious 
break-down.  She  stood  and  listened  sentimentally:  she 
and  Aunt  Silence  ;  —  they  two,  the  greatest  sufferers,  the 
truly  injured  by  the  workings  of  an  old  man's  implacable 
scheme. 

"  Yes,  you  are  bound  to  die  if  you  stay  here,  poor  dear ! 
Don't  I  know  !  But  if  I  could  get  the  money  soon  enough 
and  pay  off  the  mortgage  on  the  old  place,  you  and  uncle 
could  go  home." 

"  —  May,  June,  July,  August,  September,  —  "  the  count 
went  on,  the  sick  woman  checking  off  the  months  on  the 
bed-sheet  with  her  wasted  fingers  ;  "  —  February,"  she 
ended,  and  with  a  satisfied  sigh  as  though  the  question 
were  at  rest,  —  "  Fort  Hall !  " 

"  Yes,  dear  soul,  « Fort  Hall ' !  "  Stella  answered,  un- 
shaken. "  I  don't  forget  Fort  Hall !  " 

"  Fort  Hall "  was  the  parting  word  between  them.  Her 
aunt's  little  rocking-chair  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  and 
because  there  were  real  tears  in  Stella's  eyes,  she  stumbled 
against  it  and  left  it  rocking  empty  in  the  wind  from  the 
open  door. 

Barbie  went  over  to  her  mother's  at  ten  minutes  to  two, 
Jimmy  at  her  side  steadying  her  steps  in  the  darkness.  At 
the  house-steps  they  paused  and  kissed  good-bye  till  dawn. 

There  was  not  a  sign  of  human,  wakeful  presence,  nor 
the  feeling  of  it,  as  Barbie  stepped  inside :  she  knew  with- 
out evidence  that  her  mother  was  there  alone.  She  had 
ceased  to  wander  in  speech  and  lay  breathing  deep  and 


338  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

hard.  At  intervals  a  convulsive  movement  lifted  her  whole 
body  with  a  mechanical  effort  to  rise,  but  she  was  uncon- 
scious. The  little  rocker,  as  if  she  had  just  left  it,  rocked 
by  itself  empty  in  the  wind.  A  chill  went  over  Barbie : 
she  remembered  a  night  on  the  plains.  The  rocking  of  an 
empty  cradle  is  said  to  bode  sickness  or  death  to  the  child ; 
even  so  might  the  rocking  of  a  chair,  to  the  one  who  is 
accustomed  to  use  it. 

"  Mother  will  never  get  well."  The  load  of  this  forebod- 
ing made  her  stupid  to  all  else.  Stella's  absence  did  not 
impress  her  as  particularly  strange.  "  Of  course  she  could 
not '  watch  one  hour ! '  The  night  was  cooler  outside  ;  her 
own  comfort  called  her  and  she  went."  Young  hearts  are 
bitter  when  human  justice  is  frustrate  in  their  sight,  and 
God's  will  is  so  hard  to  understand. 

The  vigil  went  on  till  dawn.  When  Stella  was  not  in  by 
sunrise,  nor  at  six,  and  it  became  a  question  of  Jimmy's 
breakfast,  Barbie  then  awakened  her  father.  "While  he 
dressed  she  looked  into  Stella's  room.  One  glance  showed 
what  use  the  unhappy  girl  had  made  of  the  trust  she  asked 
for.  That  light  jeer,  last  night  as  they  parted,  had  been  her 
farewell ;  with  those  words  about  "  your  husband  "  she  had 
cast  the  dust  of  the  settlement  from  her  feet.  The  rest  was 
pure,  cold  treachery  and  desertion  where  everything  was 
due  that  is  possible  for  one  woman  to  owe  another.  Thus 
Barbie  closed  her  heart  and  was  glad  the  parasite  had 
fled. 

About  seven,  Lottie  Kiersted  came  over  on  a  fast  walk, 
her  boy,  still  in  his  night  drawers,  balanced  astride  of  one 
hip.  With  her  free  hand  she  swept  the  un tidied  hair 
from  her  red  and  swollen  eyes.  She  found  only  Mr.  Han- 
nington  doing  his  morning  chores  outside ;  neither  one 


THE   EMPTY   BEDROOM  339 

observed  the  other  closely.  Her  first  question  was  of  the 
invalid,  how  had  she  passed  the  night  ?  —  the  answer,  as 
usual,  "  About  the  same."  Then,  in  a  shaken  voice,  Lottie 
asked,  "  Where  is  Stella  ?  Is  n't  she  around  this  morn- 
ing?" 

"  Stella  does  n't  seem  to  be  anywhere  around,"  Mr. 
Hannington  replied. 

"  I  knew  it !  She  's  gone  away  with  my  husband  !  " 

Alvin  stared  at  the  little,  pale,  fierce  face  of  the  woman. 
"  Lottie,  what  are  you  saying  !  Come  out  here  !  —  How 
did  you  know  Stella  was  gone  ?  " 

"  Susan  brought  the  plums,"  Lottie  stammered  between 
chattering  teeth. 

"  Sit  down,"  said  Mr.  Hannington.  She  sat  down  on 
the  milk-bench,  hugging  the  child  and  shivering. 

"  She  met  them  on  the  trail  —  " 

"Met  who?" 

"  Stella  and  her  Injun  —  horseback.  Susan  asked  him 
where  they  were  going ;  they  talked  chinook.  '  To  meet 
the  Red  One,'  he  said.  That 's  Sam  —  the  name  they  call 
him.  To  meet  him  at  sunrise  on  the  road  to  the  Falls. 
They  were  all  going  south  together,  to  California." 

"  What  time  did  Sam  start  ?  " 

"  Oh,  early  !  Time  enough  to  get  to  the  cross-trails  easy 
by  sunrise." 

"  What  if  he  did  ?  There 's  nothing  in  it.  Low-minded 
Indian  gossip.  Lottie,  you  ought  to  be  a  prouder  woman 
than  this." 

Barbie  had  returned  with  a  pitcher  of  milk  in  her  hand. 
She  stood  by  her  father  making  a  silent  third.  Young  Sam 
glued  his  eyes  upon  the  milk  and  howled  for  it. 

"Give  him  a  drink,  do,"  said  Mr.  Hannington. 


340  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

Lottie  from  habit  demurred.  "  You  '11  rob  yourselves. 
He  '11  get  his  breakfast  soon." 

"Give  it  to  him,"  Mr.  Hannington  thundered.  The 
child  drank  and  his  mother  steadied  the  cup  which  he 
grasped  in  both  hands,  her  hard-drawn  face  staring  at 
them  over  the  top  of  his  eager  head. 

"  Barbie,  you  and  Jimmy  know  —  tell  your  father !  I 
don't  care  who  knows  anything.  Sam  is  not  as  bad  as  some. 
It  was  money  she  tolled  him  off  with.  All  summer  there 's 
been  a  lot  of  talk  going  on  between  them,  —  some  scheme 
she  wanted  to  work  out  with  his  help.  He  told  me  what 
he  could  about  it.  I  said  '  no '  right  flat  out.  He  knew 
he  'd  never  persuade  me  to  consent,  so  he  's  gone  and  not 
told  me.  I  don't  accuse  him  of  everything:  I  don't  want 
it  said  that  I  'm  such  a  fool  as  to  be  jealous." 

"  Qui  Court  could  easily  know  a  little  and  guess  at  more, 
and  of  course  he  has  a  mind  like  the  others ;  —  suppose  they 
did  go  together,  part  of  the  way  ?  "  Barbie  saw  the  fallacy 
of  this  persuasion,  for  Sam  would  not  have  given  Stella  his 
aid  and  company,  leaving  her  home  by  stealth. 

"Well,  Lottie,"  said  Mr.  Hannington,  "  I  've  no  more 
doubts  of  Sam  than  I  would  have  of  Jimmy,  but  to  sat- 
isfy you,  if  you've  been  worried  about  other  things,  I  '11 
go  to  Champoeg  myself.  If  Sam  is  there,  that 's  a  lesson 
to  you  !  We  can't  wait  for  a  doctor  any  longer ;  if  there 's 
the  least  chance  of  this  story  being  true,  why,  there 's  that 
to  consider.  The  doctor  must  be  sent  back  here,  and  we 
must  give  account  of  ourselves  at  the  convention.  But  I 
won't  believe  Sam 's  turned  his  back  on  his  wife  and  his 
country,  too.  You  don't  think  he  could  look  as  proud  and 
pleased  as  he  did  yesterday,  and  to-day  go  sneaking  off 
on  a  dishonest  freak  like  this !  " 


THE   EMPTY  BEDROOM  341 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Hannington  !  It 's  a  great  comfort  to 
speak  to  some  one  —  I  mean  to  one  —  who  —  "  Lottie  wept, 
while  young  Sam  tipped  the  cup  till  it  printed  his  fore- 
head, sucking  the  last  drops. 

"  Jimmy  must  do  this  for  you,  father :  he  must  go,"  said 
Barbie  when  they  were  alone.  "  You  can't  leave  mother 
now."  She  drew  his  head  against  her  and  stroked  his  hot, 
sticky  forehead.  The  wind  that  freshened  up  after  mid- 
night had  died  away  at  dawn ;  the  morning  threatened  a 
day  of  perilous  heat.  "  Go,  dear,  and  look  at  her :  see  if 
you  can  leave  her !  " 

"  I  shan't  leave  her,"  Alvin  said.  "  She  is  n't  here  I  You 
and  Jimmy,"-  — he  covered  his  face. 

"Oh,  no,  you  must  n't  go,"  she  pleaded  with  him. 

"  Don't  you  try  to  persuade  me,  daughter.  If  there 's 
anything  in  it,  this  is  not  a  young  man 's  job.  Your 
mother  would  want  me  to  go,"  he  faltered.  Barbie  could 
say  no  more. 

They  had  their  hard  moments  together,  then  Alvin  went 
in  alone.  He  drew  the  little  rocker  close  to  his  wife's  bed 
and  sat  on  the  edge  of  it  creaking ;  his  head  sank  forward; 
coatless,  unshaven,  unaware  of  the  heat  or  his  personal 
appearance,  he  sat  there  in  the  presence  of  that  supreme 
change,  the  summing-up  of  most  earthly  things  for  him. 
Hardly  a  pride  connected  with  himself  was  left  which 
time  had  not  humbled,  except  his  pride  in  the  girl  out- 
side, —  their  child  ;  hardly  a  possession  had  he  kept,  save 
the  treasure  of  this  woman's  faith  and  constancy  and  the 
years  they  had  spent  together.  The  altered  face  seemed 
no  longer  hers ;  it  was  unfamiliar,  awful  in  its  detachment. 
But  his  whole  sense  of  her,  spiritually,  enwrapped  him. 
The  tide  would  be  long  going  out ;  there  would  be  hours 


342  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

when  he  might  be  sitting  here  thinking  about  her,  keep- 
ing his  mind  from  little  things ;  but  the  hot  Champoeg 
trail  and  the  crowd  of  men  at  the  meeting  was  his  duty 
as  he  saw  it,  and  he  seemed  to  see  it  with  her  eyes. 

"  Jimmy  can  help  Barbie  better  than  I  can ;  he  could  n't 
do  anything  with  Stella.  I  won't  be  harsh,  however  it  is 
with  her.  I  promise  you  that,  mother." 

It  was  not  the  shape  on  the  bed  his  thoughts  consulted. 
Even  seeing  what  he  saw,  it  could  not  seem  possible  he 
had  nothing  left  but  that.  He  placed  his  hand  over  the 
dry  hand  that  lay  hot  and  twitching  on  the  bedclothes ; 
it  no  longer  owned  his  touch.  He  felt  no  desire  to  kiss  the 
face  on  the  pillow.  The  soul  of  his  wife  was  far  removed 
from  human  prayers  or  longing,  transacting  its  supreme 
business  alone  within  the  veil  that  shrouds  its  initiation. 

"  You  will  never  miss  me  any  more,  Silence,  Silence ! 
but  I  shall  miss  you,  my  dear." 

So  he  went  on  his  errand,  taking  it  simply  as  their  mu- 
tual errand.  He  was  leaving  her  on  her  deathbed  and  her 
earthly  concerns  were  over,  but  reality,  at  last,  is  only  what 
we  are  able  to  feel.  The  external  semblance  of  her  lying 
there  with  fixed  eyes,  fighting  for  each  breath,  sinking 
hour  by  hour  into  that  fathomless  isolation  we  emerge  from 
and  pass  out  in,  —  that  part  which  he  was  leaving  did  not 
govern  his  consciousness  so  nearly  as  her  active,  human 
participancy  through  which  he  had  known  her  as  his  wife. 
He  could  not  lose  that ;  nay,  more,  they  were  come  to  the 
final  unveiling  of  two  reserved  souls  whom  life  had  united 
by  an  imperfect  tie,  and  she  would  soon  be  free.  But  he 
had  nothing  to  fear.  On  the  road  he  thought,  "  I  don't 
believe  I  ever  made  her  understand  how  much  she  was 
to  me,  but  she  '11  know  it  soon,  she  '11  know !  " 


CHAPTER  XIII 

RUNNING  WATER 

THE  old  Indian  hunting-trail  showed  fresh  pony  tracks 
in  the  dampened  dust,  as  Sam  climbed  out  of  valley  shad- 
ows and  met  the  sun.  Stella  had  been  impatient,  hence 
her  long  wait  above,  which  Qui  Court  prophesied,  grum- 
bling. She  had  forbidden  him  to  bring  whiskey ;  he  had 
however,  incorporated  sufficient  with  his  person  to  make 
him  talkative,  and  although  angry  with  his  disobedience 
she  found  him  interesting.  Qui  Court  never  lied  unless  he 
happened  to  be  sober.  She  listened  and  obtained  inform- 
ation that  gave  her  what  she  believed  to  be  an  immea- 
surable advantage  at  the  present  juncture  in  her  affairs, 
which  unhappily  depended  so  much  on  others :  so  she 
walked  down  the  road  to  meet  Sam  in  a  state  of  exulta- 
tion. 

As  he  hove  in  sight  she  took  her  stand  playfully  in  the 
middle  of  his  path ;  he  did  not  recognize  her  at  once,  the 
sun  at  her  back  shining  directly  in  his  eyes.  She  pushed 
up  the  brim  of  her  boy's  hat  and  showed  the  wreath  of 
fair  hair  framing  her  provoking  beauty ;  hands  on  hips 
she  struck  an  attitude,  laughing  in  his  face. 

"  You  —  jackanapes !  Now  what  are  you  up  to !  " 

Eoughness  was  his  refuge  from  the  shock  that  went 
through  his  veins,  and  the  weak  confusion  that  followed. 
She  came  nearer  and  took  his  horse's  bridle  in  both  hands. 
Sweet  as  morning  in  the  woods  the  smile  was  she  gave  him, 
dodging  the  horse's  big  restless  head,  to  meet  his  eyes. 


344  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Get  down,  Sam,  please ;  I  've  got  a  world  of  things 
to  tell  you." 

"  Tell  me,  first,  what  are  you  doing  here  prancing  around 
in  this  rig?" 

Stella  had  prepared  herself  for  a  hard  journey,  sensi- 
bly, if  somewhat  in  advance  of  woman's  sense  in  dress  at 
that  time.  From  a  distance,  she  looked  like  a  boy  or  a 
small  man,  in  the  semi-Indian  costume  worn  on  hunting- 
trips  by  all  the  whites.  Nearer,  there  was  no  mistaking 
the  conscious  feminine  glance  or  the  decorative  arrange- 
ment of  hair,  just  enough  of  it  showing  for  becomingness. 

Her  laughter  and  her  mischief  were  Sam's  undoing. 
She  was  the  witch  of  the  wheat-field  who  brought  him  first 
to  shame.  The  same  detested  melting  in  his  bones  alarmed 
him. 

He  got  down  dizzily,  threw  his  arm  across  the  saddle 
and  dropped  his  eyes  a  moment. 

"  Sleepy,  Sam  ?  Got  up  too  early?  " 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

"To  Champoeg — with  my  gold.  To  show  it  to  some 
'  male  citizen  of  the  future  State  of  Oregon ';  — my  contri- 
bution to  the  «  Wolf  Meeting.'  " 

"  You  've  run  away,  then  ?  " 

"  I  told  you,  uncle,  I  should  rebel.  You  would  n't  take 
me  for  your  niece,  all  proper  in  the  family.  Now  I  'm  off 
on  my  own  hook.  Never  was  so  happy  in  my  life !  " 

"  Is  that  the  wonderful  news  you  had  to  tell  me  ?  " 

"  Part  of  it :  you  are  not  glad  I  am  happy  ?  But  the 
rest  is  serious.  Sit  down,  do!  When  you  speak,  speak  low. 
Qui  Court  —  il  dort  1  There 's  no  knowing,  though.  He 
has  taken  some  whiskey  which  I  forbade  him,  but  it  leads 
to  things :  he 's  been  talking,  telling  Indian  secrets.  I  hold 


RUNNING  WATER  345 

the  poor  wretch's  life  in  my  hands !  Sam,  what  do  you 
think !  There 's  going  to  be  an  Indian  uprising  this  very 
autumn.  All  the  young  braves,  tribe  after  tribe,  are  in  it. 
The  old  men  can't  hold  them  back.  It's  coming,  Sam!  it 
means  a  general  massacre.  Every  American  settlement 
and  mission  they  have  sworn  to  wipe  out  —  they  are  so  en- 
raged at  Dr.  Whitman.  Now  they  see  the  game :  schools 
and  religion  first  and  heaven  and  all  that,  to  get  their 
friendship  and  a  foothold  ;  then  bring  in  the  settlers.  Set- 
tlers want  land.  Catholics  and  fur  companies  don't  bring 
wives  and  children  ;  don't  sweep  off  the  woods  and  spoil 
the  hunting.  They  have  heard  about  this  fall's  emigration 
that 's  on  the  way :  they  know  at  last  what  the  Americans 
mean. 

"  Now,  Sam,  is  that  worth  telling  ?  It 's  no  cock-and- 
bull  story,  I  assure  you.  You  've  all  got  to  go,  somewhere, 
before  next  autumn.  I  hold  by  my  first  offer  ;  you  are  the 
first  '  male  citizen '  I  showed  my  gold  to.  Come  on  with 
us,  and  by  fall,  —  long  before  fall,  —  you  '11  be  ready  for 
Lottie  and  the  boy.  It's  a  better  country,  far,  than  Ore- 
gon. It's  wonderful!  Wait  till  you  see  !  There  are  homes 
for  all  of  you  ;  —  not  where  we  are  going.  They  will  take 
their  own  way.  There's  room  enough, — but  time !  there 's 
no  time  to  spare.  Come  with  us,  now!  Send  back  word 
why  you  go,  and  warn  them.  The  Americans  had  better 
leave  politics  alone  and  think  about  their  lives.  Have  I 
talked  too  loud?  No,  he's  sound.  But,  careful  with  your 
big  guns  when  you  begin  to  roar!" 

Sam  looked  at  her  in  silence.  "  Why  did  you  choose 
to-day  for  your  start  ?  " 

"  For  the  sake  of  your  company,  uncle." 

"  Are  you  safe  with  that  fellow  ?  " 


346  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  He  adores  me.  I  belong  to  his  —  "  She  hesitated  and 
Sam  broke  in. 

"  He  is  using  you  to  decoy  men  into  this  scheme ;  he 
can't  work  it  alone.  He  wants  money  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  for  whiskey  and  ponies  and  Indian  wives.  That 's  why 
he  adores  you." 

"  Well,  I  don't  care !  I  have  his  other  secret  now.  It 
means  death  to  him  by  inches  if  the  Indians  ever  know 
he 's  betrayed  them." 

"  Girl,  be  careful,  for  goodness '  sake !  If  you  brag  to 
him  that  you  've  got  his  life,  your  life  won't  be  worth  a 
charge  of  powder.  Stella,  you  must  go  home.  You're  on 
a  dangerous  road  with  that  half-breed.  You  're  playing  with 
death  —  not  in  one  way  but  dozens.  For  God's  sake,  go 
home !  Come  with  me  now !  "  Sam  rose  and  held  out  his 
hands.  "  Come !  I'll  take  you  home :  that 's  all  I  can  do." 

"  Home  !  "  she  repeated  in  lazy  scorn.  She  let  him  hold 
her  hands  which  was  the  extent  of  her  yielding.  "  If  you 
are  so  worried  about  me,  come  along,  then,  and  take  care 
of  your  little  partner.  Did  n't  I  tell  you  how  I  'd  take  care 
of  you,  big  uncle  ?  " 

"I  will  take  you  home  to  your  folks ;  that 's  the  only  road 
we  can  take  together." 

He  released  her  hands  from  his  hot  grasp  ;  his  pounding 
blood  betrayed  the  struggle,  shamed  him  in  her  mocking 
eyes  ;  yet  the  mastery  was  his,  if  not  the  pride  of  one  who 
has  no  need  to  struggle.  Sam  was  no  Galahad,  but  the  solid 
manhood  in  him  ruled  the  folly  of  the  hour. 

"  There 's  only  one  road  to  Champoeg,"  she  remarked 
dryly. 

"  It 's  open  to  you,  but  you  can't  go  in  my  company,  run*  , 
ning  away  from  your  friends."  y 


SUNNING  WATER  347 

"  I  see :  you  are  afraid,  as  usual,  of  the  looks  of  things." 

"I'm  afraid,"  said  Sam,  "of  a  good  many  things  not 
necessary  to  speak  of.  I  start  now.  Thank  you,  Stella,  for 
your  warning.  I  sha  n't  hesitate  to  pass  it  on,  —  no  names 
attached,  of  course.  We  will  be  ready !  Our  '  politics '  has 
just  that  end  in  view :  so  we  can  act  together  when  we  need 
our  strength  combined.  Take  my  warning,  now,  and  go 
home.  I  am  your  friend,  Stella ;  too  much  your  friend  to 
let  you  fool  with  me.  That  gold  is  all  a  gamble.  Drop  it, 
and  go  home !  " 

"  Then  I'm  a  gambler,"  said  Stella.  Her  face  grew  hard. 
"  I  shall  find  some  one,  some  day,  to  play  the  game  with, 
never  fear ! " 

"If  you  go  to  Champoeg  with  that  half-breed,  I  will  give 
you  in  charge  of  the  mission.  I  shall  have  to  see  that  you 
are  looked  after,  by  force,  if  necessary,  till  your  uncle  knows 
where  you  are.  Think  of  the  trouble  they  are  in  this  morn- 
ing!" 

"  Not  about  me,"  said  Stella,  divining  her  place  in  the 
house  she  had  left  forever. 

"Will  you  go  back?" 

She  arched  her  eye  at  him  under  the  slant  of  her  hat- 
brim.  "  Do  you  really  mean  that  ?  —  that  you  '11  have  me 
kept  there  by  force?  Suppose  I  charge  you  with  abduction 
and  desertion  afterward  ?  " 

"  That  would  bring  up  the  question  of  your  character 
and  mine,  Stella.  You  're  losing  your  good  sense." 

"Yes,"  she  said,  suddenly  giving  way,  in  her  subtle, 
crouching  fashion.  "  I  'm  getting  angry  and  then  I  always 
hurt  my  own  cause." 

"  Promise  me  you  will  go  home." 

"  I  will  promise  you  this :  I  shall  chase  no  big  farmer  like 


348  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

you  to  Champoeg :  I  don't  call  you  worth  it.  As  to  home ; 
if  you  see  them  before  I  do,  tell  them  that  warning  about 
the  Indians  came  from  me,  the  outcast,  the  sinner  they  took 
back  on  sufferance.  I  call  that  quits!" 

She  stepped  aside  and  waved  her  hand  lightly,  then 
mockingly  she  kissed  it.  Sam,  without  looking  at  her  again, 
swung  into  his  saddle  and  passed  the  slumbering  half-breed 
at  a  heavy  trot. 

Qui  Court  raised  his  head.  It  took  him  some  seconds  to 
rearrange  his  ideas  of  time  and  place.  Stella  had  reached 
the  spot  and  stood  regarding  him  severely.  He  blinked 
and  yawned  like  a  dog  embarrassed  by  the  human  gaze. 

"  Where  is  the  Ked  One,  <  Uncle '  ?  —  Is  not  come  yet  ?  " 

"Come  and  gone,"  said  Stella;  "but  you  needn't  call 
him 'Uncle'!" 

"Goes  not  with  us?" 

"He  is  that !  "  she  snapped  her  fingers.  "  Cattle !  They 
are  all  cattle,  with  thick  heads,  and  horns  to  push  you  out 
of  your  road.  Qui  Court,  pay  attention."  Qui  Court  sat  up 
and  straightened  the  red  handkerchief  about  his  brows. 
"  We  do  not  go  to  the  Falls, — understand  ?  I  waste  no  more 
time  on  these  farmers." 

"  Madame  has  learned  at  last !  " 

"  Can't  we  cross  the  river  somewhere  near  here  and  go 
straight  to  Fort  Vancouver  ?  " 

"We  waste  our  time  at  Vancouver  also,  madame.  All 
fur-hunter,  —  no  gold-hunter,  there.  Good  place  to  eat 
and  drink  — " 

"  At  least,  there  are  men  there,"  Stella  broke  in,  "  and 
Englishmen.  My  father  was  an  Englishman." 

"  Madame  has  got  friend  at  Fort  Vancouver?"  Qui 
Court  screwed  an  eye  at  her  curiously. 


RUNNING  WATER  349 

"  Captain  Bradburn's  widow  has  friends  wherever  he  was 
known." 

"  He  was  known  at  Fort  Vancouver,  —  but  it  is  true  ! 
Let  me  warn  madarae  —  all  those  gentlemen  what  know 
Captain  Bradburn  was  not  his  friend,  by  —  " 

"  Hush  !  Captain  Grant  was  n't,  —  that  I  know." 

"  Captain  Grant  have  many  friend  at  Fort  Vancouver. 
Where  that  flag  fly  with  those  letter,  « H.  B.  C.'  —  those 
men  all  stick  together.  I  speak  the  word  to  madame ;  reason, 
it  is  not  for  me  to  say.  There  are  many  stories." 

Stella  paused  an  instant :  "  Thank  you  for  the  hint,  my 
friend  ;  still  I  shall  be  Mrs.  Bradburn,  not  in  law,  perhaps, 
but  in  that  which  is  above  law  to  white  men.  The  more 
bad  they  speak  of  him,  the  more  they  will  pity  me.  It  is  a 
strange  thing,  Qui  Court,  that  the  lady  of  Captain  Brad- 
burn,  whom  he  gave  his  life  for,  should  be  roaming  the  coun- 
try begging  her  bread :  —  left  nothing,  nothing  but  this 
pinch  of  gold  she  owes  to  you." 

"  But  it  is  true,  madame  !  They  will  listen  to  madame's 
story.  There  are  many  such  story,  but  not  many  such  lady, 
my  faith !  Madame  sees  her  way  through  this  crooked 
world  ;  she  has  had  instruction.  I  also  knew  Captain  Brad- 
burn  !  "  Qui  Court  waved  a  polite  salutation  to  the  air,  as 
if  it  held  a  presence  invisible,  but  wisely  propitiated. 

"  But  that  gold,  madame,"  he  resumed,  lighting  his  pipe 
as  an  aid  to  extended  conversation,  — "  that  makes  nothing 
with  Chief  McLoughlin.  He  has  many  years ;  much 
trouble  with  those  Americain.  Too  much  peopP,  all  time 
more  and  more !  Gold  bring  peopl'.  Ten  men  go  to  find 
land  and  home,  ten  thousan'  go  to  find  gold !  Chief  Mc- 
Loughlin don'  wan'  to  smell  that  gold.  That  smell  bad  to 
him.  But  it  is  true."  Qui  Court  nodded,  removing  his 


350  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

pipe  and  watching  a  fresh  puff  die  in  sunshine.  "  All  those 
Hudson  Bay  gentlemen  —  what  they  want  is  room  — 
room  !  "  —  with  many  rrs  and  a  wave  of  the  hand,  he  em- 
braced the  landscape.  "  Fort  Vancouver,  every  year,  send 
out  three  brigade :  Caledonia  brigade  go  north,  —  sixty, 
seventy  voyageurs.  Gran*  sight !  Steersman  give  order : 
strike  the  paddle,  all  one  stroke !  men  all  sing !  Maybe 
some  bag-pipe  screechin'.  Pilot  boat  carry  that  flag, 
'  H.  B.  C.':  those  men  go  to  Okanogan;  leave  canoe,  take 
horse,  —  two,  three  hundred  in  one  pack-train.  Tinkle- 
tinkle  in  the  forest,  in  the  black,  dark  canyon  where  the 
river  roar.  They  go  up  by  Kamloops,  country  of  the  Shus- 
waps  ;  up  Fraser  River.  All  that  one  gran*  empire,  New 
Caledonia.  Tha'  's  only  one !  East  brigade  take  in  the 
hunt  from  Idaho  and  Montana  and  Wyoming.  South 
brigade  scoop  in  all  that  from  Sacramento  River  and 
Snake  River  and  Salt  Lake.  Ain't  that  big  enough? 
What  a  great  chief  like  Father  McLoughlin  who  look 
over  all  that,  —  what  he  want  with  gold  ?  — '  Keep  away 
from  me  all  those  peopl'  what  make  me  so  much  troubl' 
with  my  company  ! '  He  has  that  kind  heart :  he  see  poor 
settler  with  leettle  children,  wife  sick,  cattle  dead,  no  house, 
no  food,  winter  come.  Fath'  McLoughlin  put  finger  in  his 
ear :  can't  hear  order  from  London ;  he  listen  to  his 
heart.  But  that  make  him  much  troubl'.  No,  madame,  we 
waste  our  time  at  Fort  Vancouver." 

"  Then  what  do  you  want  ?  Have  you  any  plan  of  your 
own?" 

"  Assuredly!  "  said  Qui  Court. 

His  last  words  held  more  fascination  for  his  girl-partner 
than  any  chimerical  quest  for  gold.  Her  spirits  sank  at 
the  prospect  of  endless  journeying  in  loneliness,  past  one 


RUNNING  WATER  351 

after  another  of  those  friendly  lights  of  hospitality.  If 
no  one  wanted  gold,  why  peddle  it  at  such  a  sacrifice  ? 
There  were  other  sides  of  life  more  nearly  within  the 
scope  of  her  experience  and  knowledge  of  her  own 
powers. 

"  Would  madame  feel  herself  able  to  travel  a  little  far- 
ther and  join  that  South  brigade  ?  " 

"  At  Fort  Vancouver  ?  "  Madame  would  be  enchanted  ! 

"  No,  no,  madame ;  that  would  be  impossibl',  against 
orders."  Qui  Court  grinned  a  form  of  explanation.  "  We 
pass  by  and  do  not  stop :  we  go  maybe  a  leetle  slow ;  stop 
at  some  leetle  trader  post  and  buy  what  we  want.  Me,  I 
can  buy  ver*  cheap!  On  the  road  we  catch  that  South 
brigade.  Chief  factor  ride  in  front ;  fine  gentleman !  'Bent 
all  to  himself.  Young,  beautiful  Scotch  gentleman  com- 
mand that  brigade.  Madame,  we  show  our  gold  to  him. 
He  listen,  both  ways ! " 

"Both  ways?" 

"  To  the  lady,  my  faith  !  —  and  to  the  gold." 

"  Qui  Court,  you  are  too  free  with  your  '  Lady,  my 
faith !  *  I  am  Captain  Bradburn's  widow  in  distress." 

"  Madame  has  right.  She  sees  well  her  way  in  this  bad 
world." 

"  Does  that  brigade  ever  stop  anywhere  ?  " 

"  Sure-lee !  It  is  not  for  the  hunt ;  it  is  for  trade.  It 
stop  at  gran'  place,  the  ver'  place  we  wan'  to  go  ou'selves  ! 
It  is  the  goodness  of  God !  That  young  gentleman  what 
goes  chief  factor  this  treep,  he  take  command  at  company, 
new  place  at  Yerba  Buena ;  what  you  call  —  where  sheep 
come  in." 

"Sheep?" 
.    "  Boat,  with  sail ;  big  boat  for  the  ocean." 


352  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  Ships !  a  seaport.  Has  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
got  a  port  in  California  ?  " 

"  A-a-ah !  Everywhere  that  company  lay  its  hand ! 
Father  McLoughlin  fix  that  —  maybe  twenty  year'  ago. 
Now  they  got  land,  thousan'  acre,  fine  house  —  cost  four 
thousan'  dollar.  This  young  gentleman  get  that  fine  new 
post  for  himself.  He  son-in-law  to  Chief  McLoughlin." 

"  Married,  is  he  ?  " 

"  Not  to  hurt,  not  to  hurt.  The  wife  does  not  come 
down  so  soon.  She  stay  on  the  Columbia  with  her  father." 

"  Is  she  handsome  ?  " 

"  She  has  the  beauty  that  is  youth ;  me,  I  prefer  those 
Spanish  lady,  las  Mejicanas." 

"Are  they  so  handsome?" 

"  Madame  will  see  for  herself.  They  have  not  hair  like 
gold  thread  in  the  sun,  like  cobweb  in  the  breeze.  They 
have  not  the  cheek  of  rose." 

"  Qui  Court,  you  know  quite  well  that  my  nose  is  as  red 
as  my  cheeks." 

"  What  does  that  make  I  It  is  not  wide  like  squaw,  that 
nose,  if  madame  permeet  —  " 

"  I  don't  permit,  but  I  am  in  no  case  to  scold  you,  Qui 
Court,  my  poor  friend." 

"  Madame  commands  from  the  heart :  it  is  from  the 
heart  Qui  Court  obeys.  Trust  Qui  Court,  madame.  He 
go  sometime  crooked,  sometime  he  go  straight;  take  long 
trail,  long  way,  but  he  finish  at  that  ocean.  There  we  play 
our  beeg  card,  and  we  win  !  " 

"  So  be  it !  "  Stella  answered  gayly.  "  Lead  ahead,  Qui 
Court." 

The  ponies  stepped  neck  and  neck,  as  the  trail  gave 
room,  Qui  Court  chuckling  in  a  sing-song  to  himself: 


KUNNING  WATER  353 

"Gran'  time  —  fur  comp'ny  fort,  gran*  time!  When 
those  brigade  come  in,  my  God,  sometime  carry  on  awful !  " 

Stella  mused  in  her  fashion  also.  She  was  beyond  set- 
tlers' fences  and  cabbage-patches,  and  sickness  and  preach- 
ing and  thrift,  and  the  dominion  of  lawful  wives.  How 
had  she  borne  it  so  long !  Bradburn  erstwhile  had  filled 
her  memory  with  tales,  not  too  select,  of  those  "  gran'  time 
at  fur  comp'ny  fort."  How  they  dined  every  night  in 
evening  dress,  those  Lords  of  Trade  in  the  wilderness, 
waited  on  by  wives  and  moot-wives,  barefoot,  humble  as 
the  dirt  beneath  their  feet ;  of  their  haughty  exclusiveness 
and  merciless  memories,  punishing  Peter  in  vengeance  for 
Paul;  poaching  on  each  other's  territory,  stealing  each 
other's  spoils,  skin  for  skin,  wound  for  wound,  by  the 
ancient  law  of  the  forest.  These  men  were,  for  the  most 
part,  bachelors  if  not  celibates. 

She  drew  the  breath  of  license,  of  adventures  coarse  and 
wild.  Need  we  pretend  they  had  no  thrill  for  her  because 
she  was  part  New  England,  delicately  featured,  with  a 
mouth  like  a  cruel  little  rose?  She  counted  over  the 
contents  of  her  travelling-pack :  wisdom  is  justified  of  her 
children !  The  old  Havana  lawn  was  there,  fragile  but 
unfaded  because  Aunt  Silence  had  washed  it  herself  and 
ironed  it  with  her  own  hands ;  the  red  dot  sprinkled  on  its 
sheer  whiteness,  of  a  red  to  match  the  spark  in  each  bead 
of  her  garnet  chain,  which  always  had  brought  her  luck, 
if  it  be  luck  to  win  a  man's  heart  when  you  have  no  pre- 
sent use  for  it.  She  had  use  now  for  all  her  winnings.  And 
her  white  silk  —  a  trifle  soiled,  but  men  do  not  notice.  It 
would  be  daring  by  lamplight  in  a  smoky,  vast,  rude  din- 
ing-hall  —  off  her  shoulders,  and  the  turquoise  necklace 
set  in  silver  hooked  tight  around  her  throat. 


354  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

"  '  Gran*  time,'  "  she  mimicked  gloriously  —  "  'gran' 
time  at  fur  comp'ny  fort ! '  I  am  coming  back  to  life  at 
last !  The  mountains  are  great  graves !  Oh,  when  I  see 
my  long  white  sands  and  hear  that  roll  of  surf  again ! " 
All  that  Bradburn's  passionate  boast  had  promised,  she 
saw  in  the  distance  of  her  dreams :  homesick  cravings  for 
pure  sensation,  and  for  that  subtle  luxury  of  climate  she 
was  born  to.  Among  the  Spanish  of  old  California,  she 
had  heard  there  was  largesse  like  to  the  house  of  Job : 
riding  where  only  servants  walk,  delicious  eating  without 
care  for  how  it  came,  indifference  to  time;  feasts  and 
lights  and  dancing  and  night  scenes  in  that  Southern 
moonlight,  piercing  memories  of  which,  bringing  back  her 
own  childhood,  drove  her  almost  to  cry  out.  Summer 
nights,  sick  with  scent  of  orange  flowers  in  a  dim,  walled 
court,  and  double  jessamine  climbing  up  the  paw-paw;  — 
where  they  used  to  leave  her  quite  alone,  the  careless  serv- 
ants, —  with  her  old  whispering  neighbor,  the  great  ken- 
nip  tree  that  overspread  the  court,  and  the  palm  by  the 
house-corner  rattling  its  long,  hard  leaves  like  a  patter  of 
rain.  Scraps  of  singing,  the  shuffle  of  passing  feet,  faint, 
thrilling  music  from  a  warship  in  the  harbor  where  there 
might  be  dancing  on  board  —  and  that  muffled,  savage 
beat  of  gumbies  in  the  African  quarter,  the  jungle  of  the 
gay  white  town  with  all  its  jalousies  thrown  open  to  the 
night:  —  the  South,  the  South!  And  Englishmen  were 
there  who  lived  the  life  of  men  and  did  not  torment  you 
with  riddles  of  the  soul. 

"  Jam  not  'sick  of  surfeit,'  my  lords  and  gentlemen,  and 
I  don't  believe  that  you  are  either." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ACROSS  THE  BORDER 

Qui  COURT  spoke  at  random  when  he  gave  Rae,  the 
young  superintendent  of  the  company's  post  at  San  Fran- 
cisco —  Yerba  Buena,  it  was  then  —  title  of  chief  factor 
and  command  of  the  brigade.  No  doubt,  though,  its  object 
primarily  was  trade  instead  of  hunting.  Since  before  '41 
there  had  been  a  Hudson's  Bay  station  on  the  Umpqua 
known  as  McKay's  Fort :  McKay  and  Astor's  old  inter- 
preter, Framboise,  regularly  ranged  the  Sacramento, 
despite  efforts  of  Sutter,  who  had  a  fort  of  his  own,  to 
arouse  the  Mexicans  against  them.  A  subsequent  arrange- 
ment set  the  limit  at  thirty  trappers  allowed  on  the  Cali- 
fornia side.  They  must  have  been  hard  to  count,  dressed 
with  the  excuse  of  climate  so  that  even  a  Mexican  could 
not  detect  them  at  gun-range ;  but  there  was  no  general 
license  to  hunt  or  trap  beyond  the  Umpqua  River. 

It  was  Sir  George  Simpson's  dream,  —  which  ended  as 
dreams  frequently  do,  —  that  foothold  in  California.  Not 
McLoughlin  alone,  but  a  strong  party  of  three,  Sir  George, 
McLoughlin,  and  James  Douglas,  went  down  and  dickered 
gracefully  with  the  dons.  General  Vallejo  entertained 
them  with  mediaeval  picturesqueness ;  they  talked  with 
General  Alvarado  at  Monterey  over  his  seductive  old 
Spanish  wines;  but  the  Scotchmen  kept  their  heads  and 
won  every  point  in  the  game  :  a  trading-post  and  shipping- 
port,  the  right  to  defend  the  trail  used  by  their  men 
through  Mexican  dominions  and  to  punish  Indians  who 


356  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

molested  them ;  to  buy  hides  and  stock  in  California  in 
exchange  for  English  goods  from  Fort  Vancouver.  Though 
all  this  had  nominally  been  accomplished  years  before,  Rae 
was  the  first  resident ;  and  he  had  a  delicate  mission  be- 
fore him.  The  English  were  supposed  to  be  welcome 
neighbors  to  the  proud  old  families  with  Spanish  names 
and  Spanish  blood,  —  at  least  they  were  not  Americans. 
Still,  those  lazy  temperaments  had  fire  beneath:  the  eyes 
of  the  ladies  and  the  lurking  weapons  of  the  men  were  al- 
ways to  be  reckoned  with.  The  English  would  be  tempted, 
and  they  would  be  watched  accordingly. 

Rae  had  his  own  camp  servants  who  pitched  his  young 
lordship's  tent  and  packed  his  animals  and  took  charge  of 
his  table  luxuries,  which  he  handed  out  in  proper  style. 
He  had  married  into  the  royal  family  of  Oregon  ;  he  "felt 
his  oats,"  perhaps,  but  he  was  extremely  charming,  as 
every  one  knows  a  temperamental  young  Scotchman  can 
be,  and  had  magnetism  for  high  and  low.  To  this  small 
but  favored  retinue,  Qui  Court  attached  himself,  an  enter- 
taining, song-singing,  but  otherwise  inconspicuous  follower. 

His  errant  lady,  also  entertaining  but  never  inconspicu- 
ous, came  naturally  under  Rae's  protection  as  her  future 
host :  by  Qui  Court's  soberest  advice  they  had  waited  be- 
fore obtruding  the  subject  of  gold.  Stella,  following  a 
change  of  impulse  which  seized  her  on  beholding  Rae, 
introduced  herself  by  her  own  name  as  Bradburn's  fiance*e, 
in  widowed  circumstances  due  to  her  lover's  sudden  death 
on  the  eve  of  their  marriage ;  now  journeying  with  one  of 
his  trusted  followers  to  prove  her  claim  to  property  he  had 
left  her  in  California.  Qui  Court  (to  whom  this  was  news) 
listened  in  admiration.  He  much  approved  madame's 
change  of  pose. 


ACKOSS   THE  BOEDER  357 

Rae  asked  no  inconvenient  questions:  his  experience 
of  life,  and  of  errant  ladies,  married  or  single,  enabled 
him  to  draw  conclusions  which  rendered  the  fair  one 
at  his  side  no  less  interesting  ;  but,  since  fate  had  sent 
him  this  romantic  charge,  he  deemed  it  quite  as  well  that 
his  young  wife  Eloise  should  not  be  riding  on  his  other 
hand. 

From  prudence,  or  because  its  piquancy  charmed  him, 
he  made  a  special  request  that  Miss  Mutrie  should  keep 
faith  for  the  present  with  her  boyish  disguise:  time 
enough  to  unpack  the  "  wimples  and  crisping-pins  "  and 
the  rest  of  her  woman's  arsenal  when  this  wild  jaunt  was 
over.  They  talked  of  it  lightly,  Rae  casting  side  looks  of 
more  than  judicial  approval  at  the  subject  of  this  sage 
advice. 

Stella  kicked  her  little  moccasined  feet  out  of  the 
clumsy  Spanish  stirrups,  wiggled  her  toes  and  said,  no 
more  side-saddle  for  her :  the  dress  had  too  many  con- 
veniences. Still  it  was  a  sort  of  occultation  and  no  one 
enjoyed  more  than  she  the  effect  of  her  nightly  reappear- 
ance upon  those  silent,  smoking  creatures  who  pretended 
not  to  watch,  but  would  n't  have  missed  the  sight  for  any- 
thing. The  pretty  lad  in  deerskins  they  had  ridden  with 
all  day  sat  down  a  lad,  shed  hat  and  head-binder  and 
leather  over-shirt,  switched  off  his  neck-cloth  and  turned 
back  his  woollen  sleeves,  and  lo,  from  the  waist-belt  up,  a 
white-throated  maid  fronting  the  firelight,  flushed  and 
delicate  as  a  rose ;  sleepy  eyes,  brilliant  from  riding,  atti- 
tudes careless  as  a  child's !  Those  lovely,  listless  arms 
stretch  up  to  search  for  combs  and  hairpins,  and  down 
rolls  the  stream  of  shadow-spotted  hair.  There  are  no  em- 
barrassed, foolish  smiles,  but  a  business-like  gravity  while 


358  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

the  ripples  are  brushed  out,  with  turnings  of  the  head, 
and  the  beautiful  stuff  is  re-woven  into  its  arm-length 
braids  and  each  end  wound  with  one  long,  spare  golden 
hair,  thoughtfully  detached,  and  examined  to  see  if  it 
were  a  good  one  or  already  split. 

Women  are  wonders !  Rae's  heart  went  back  restlessly 
to  his  own  girl,  half  conscious  too  of  a  mean  relief  that 
she  was  not  there. 

Then,  quite  as  if  Aunt  Silence  were  beside  her  with  a 
motherly  lap  to  lend,  Stella  would  roll  over  on  one  hip 
and  cushion  her  head  on  the  nearest  knee,  —  always 
Rae's, —  yet  no  distinctions  appeared  to  exist  for  her. 
We  cannot  say  what  this  was ;  it  was  not  love,  nor  en- 
thraldom,  nor  the  business  side  of  her  adventure  down 
the  coast.  She  was  too  lazy  to  act ;  her  inborn,  insolent 
honesty  disdained  prepared  effects,  and  she  did  not  need 
them.  She  was  dangerous  because  she  was  terribly  nat- 
ural —  and  free  for  the  first  time  —  in  ages,  she  would 
have  said,  from  a  constant  sense  of  shocking  others. 
But  in  spite  of  this  casualness,  others  began  to  feel  de 
trop.  Long  before  the  Mexican  line  was  passed  she  and 
Rae  were  spending  the  evenings  in  each  other's  exclusive 
company. 

Long  silences  fell  between  them  charged  with  the  mel- 
ancholy of  shortening  days.  They  were  coming  to  the  sea 
where  everything  resolves  itself  into  something  else,  or 
disappears.  She  developed  moods  of  confiding  wistf  ulness ; 
unburdenings  the  most  extreme  seemed  hovering  on  her 
lips.  In  fact  she  was  tired  of  the  ingenue  role  she  had 
assumed ;  like  water  she  sought  her  own  level  if  it  were 
the  ditch ;  she  was  risky  and  capricious  till  she  found  it. 
She  might  have  been  supposed  now  to  be  courting  Eae's 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  359 

sympathy  as  another  of  the  poets'  long  list  of  hapless 
maids  deceived,  —  she  of  the  weary  lot,  or  that  other  fair 
one  who  tied  her  hair  in  a  horse-boy's  trim.  These  guises 
pleased  her  present  fancy  which  luxuriated  in  sadness. 
They  provoked  Rae's  passion,  as  steady  drinking  on  a 
journey  both  lazy  and  exciting  inflamed  his  blood.  He 
may  have  been  no  more  a  libertine  at  heart  than  Sam 
Kiersted,  but  he  needed  Sam's  large  doses  of  hard  work, 
administered  by  the  natural  persuasion  of  circumstances 
which  preach  results.  Nightly  he  tossed  and  groaned  to 
himself  that  he  wished  he  had  never  met  the  little  witch 
—  never  known  there  was  anything  like  her  in  the  world ! 


CHAPTER  XV 

HAVING  BEACHED   THE  BAY 

STELLA  had  been  considering,  on  and  off,  her  own  pri- 
vate interests  lodged  in  the  person  of  Qui  Court.  Know- 
ing his  weakness  and  the  temptations  awaiting  him,  she 
tried  her  persuasions  to  induce  a  greater  frankness  be- 
tween them  concerning  the  discovery  they  were  to  share. 
Qui  Court  had  nothing  that  he  could  tell  madame ;  he 
could  only  go  himself  and  show ;  like  Bradburn  his 
maps  were  in  his  head.  If  he  could  have  told  more,  evi- 
dently he  thought  it  safer  not  to.  This  was  by  no  means 
Stella's  opinion,  but  she  feared  to  press  the  matter  and 
thereby  possibly  excite  distrust.  She  carried  the  tangible 
evidence,  the  grains  of  rough  gold,  but  the  secret  of  its 
hiding-place  remained  incorporate  with  the  person  of  Qui 
Court,  subject  to  his  well-known  liabilities :  he  promised 
to  take  great  care  of  himself  lest  he  become  its  grave. 

With  the  aid  of  discipline  absolutely  he  was  discretion's 
slave,  on  the  march ;  but  the  fort's  welcome  to  an  incom- 
ing brigade  always  had  been  one  of  those  occasions  when 
discipline  was  understood  not  to  count. 

There  was  an  evening  and  a  night  when  no  official  in- 
quiries were  made,  whatever  the  sounds  from  the  court 
below,  or  outside  the  walls,  or  stumbling  along  half- 
lighted  galleries ;  and  there  was  an  hour  or  two  of  dark- 
ness and  heavy  sleep  before  dawn,  when  groans  in  the 
patio  mingled  with  grunting  of  drunken  men,  annoying 
each  other  in  their  dreams.  The  officials  also  had  been 


HAVING  REACHED  THE  BAY         361 

celebrating.  After  a  bath  and  tea  and  hours  of  inordinate 
repose,  Stella  woke  thinking  she  had  slept  the  clock 
around  and  cheated  herself  of  the  opening  scene  of  this 
first-night  play.  A  barefooted  Indian  girl,  much  wrapped 
up  about  the  head  in  a  black-and-white  rebozo,  came  in 
without  knocking,  shielding  a  candle  from  the  draught. 
It  appeared  to  be  her  mission  to  light  Qui  Court  who  en- 
tered in  the  same  frank  Latin  fashion  bearing  madarne's 
travelling-packs,  his  new  tinsel-braided  sombrero  riding 
atop.  The  door  stood  open  ;  she  could  see,  over  the  kneel- 
ing shape  of  Qui  Court  unroping  her  packs,  shadows  of 
red  torchlight  jumping  about  the  court,  and  a  few  stars, 
distant  and  silver  clear  in  a  patch  of  purple  sky.  There 
was  also  a  peculiar  rustle  of  trees  that  were  not  pines,  a 
swell  of  water  that  was  not  rapids.  Again  she  sighed:  the 
South  — the  South! 

Something  important  she  had  to  say  to  Qui  Court  when 
they  were  alone,  but  Qui  Court  managed  to  make  his  es- 
cape while  the  maid  was  asking  if  the  senorita  would 
have  supper  in  her  own  chamber  or  with  the  gentlemen 
below.  Stella  answered  decidedly,  "  Below !  "  She  could 
not  recall  enough  Spanish  to  order  that  Qui  Court  be 
fetched  back  immediately  —  so  there  was  the  first  mis- 
take !  —  which  Bradburn  would  never  have  made.  How- 
ever, one  must  dress  for  supper;  there  was  not  too  much 
time. 

Rae  apologized  for  the  patriarchal  Mexican  fashion  in 
which  supper  was  served  for  this  occasion  ;  but  his  guest 
was  charmed ;  she  called  it  baronial.  The  engages,  increas- 
ing in  color  as  they  diminished  in  rank,  seated  themselves 
in  two  long  rows,  below  the  salt.  Qui  Court  was  not 
among  them ;  his  mistress  could  hardly  ask  why.  Her 


362  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

place  was  the  seat  of  honor  beside  Rae  at  the  head  of  the 
board.  Each  dish  of  distinction  was  presented  for  her  ap- 
proval before  the  servant  set  it  before  his  master  to  serve. 
Four  or  five  silent  young  Englishmen  completed  the  official 
group.  It  dawned  upon  Stella  that  her  presence,  however 
delightful,  had  not  been  expected  below  stairs  that  even- 
ing, but  her  spirits  were  not  dashed :  she  resolved  to  be 
no  damper  on  the  company. 

Her  uncommon  ease  and  fluency  seemed  to  embarrass 
the  juniors,  under  the  eye  of  their  commander,  even  more 
than  the  amazing  stranger's  loveliness  and  style.  To  them 
she  seemed  superb  —  in  the  soiled  white  silk  and  turquoise 
chain.  When  nothing  else  could  be  thought  of  to  say,  each 
in  turn  sought  her  eye,  blushing,  raised  his  glass  and  asked 
if  he  might  have  the  honor  ?  The  honor  was  had,  more 
than  a  sufficient  number  of  times  to  witness  the  metal  of 
the  company.  Rae's  official  stateliness  wore  off.  Under- 
lings left  the  table  and  a  fitful  booming  of  guitar-strings 
mingled  with  hoarse  laughter  in  the  patio.  Every  one  cried 
upon  Rae  for  a  song :  he  gave  them  "  Her  looks  were  like 
a  flower  in  May."  Concluding,  amidst  applause,  he  called 
a  toast  with  a  gallant  air  "  To  '  Phemie ' "  —  heroine  of  the 
song  —  and  fixed  his  swimming  gaze  daringly  on  the 
heroine  at  his  side.  With  his  right  arm  across  the  back  of 
"Phemie's  "  chair  he  held  his  glass  to  her  lips  insisting 
that  she  honor  it  with  the  first  sip.  Between  them  the 
wine  went  all  into  "  Phemie's  "  white  silk  lap.  It  was  red 
wine.  She  rose  and  backed  away  in  horror,  holding  out 
her  skirt.  Rae  supported  her  while  servants  wiped  off  the 
brutal  stains.  But  her  spirits  sank  at  the  spectacle  below 
recovery ;  she  said  it  was  Nim's  blood  and  Jimmy  killed 
him,  and  why  did  they  all  look  at  her ! 


HAVING  KE ACHED  THE  BAY         363 

Later,  they  were  seated  side  by  side  on  the  floor  and 
she  was  reciting  to  Rae  brokenly  her  indignities  in  the 
past. 

"  An'  he  push  me  in  the  water  —  says,  '  wash  my  dress ' ! 
4  You  can't  go  up  there,  such  a  shight  you  are ! '  — '  was 
Nim's  blood ' !  —  See 's  blood?  "  They  reclined  upon  each 
other  and  she  wept. 

At  two  o'clock,  the  afternoon  following,  a  heavy-eyed 
court  of  enquiry  sat  in  the  crowded  filthy  patio,  upon  one 
of  those  familiar  cases  of  a  grand  time  when  the  yearly 
brigade  comes  in.  It  lay  with  its  boots  on  wrapped  in  a 
gaudy  serape  stiff  with  dark  brown  stains  resembling  dregs 
of  wine,  —  being  that  which  was  left  of  Qui  Court,  who 
had  reached  the  Bay. 

Of  witnesses  sober  enough  to  testify,  most  had  seen 
nothing  and  the  rest  told  lies  for  the  benefit  of  the  living: 
what  difference  —  to  the  dead!  There  was  languor  and 
decency,  but  no  surprise.  The  court  adjourned  with  a 
headache  and  called  for  sherry  and  bitters. 

Later,  it  was  necessary  that  Stella  should  be  told.  She 
stormed,  and  declared  it  only  another  of  fate's  ironies : 
such  had  been  her  life,  frustration,  mockery  —  the  sport 
of  chance.  Qui  Court  should  have  been  put  in  irons  the 
moment  he  entered  the  fort. 

Rae  forthwith  was  appealed  to  regarding  that  prospect- 
ive fortune  she  had  come  in  search  of,  —  her  lover's  legacy, 
—  lost  by  Qui  Court's  unnecessary  death.  She  showed  him 
the  product  of  that  golden  river  once  more  gone  back  to 
the  fabulous,  the  unknown. 

Rae  said  it  was  pretty  —  squeezed  the  little  hand  and 
its  handful  of  gold,  and  closed  up  both  in  his. 


364  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

"  But  that 's  nothing,  iny  dear,  for  you  to  cry  about." 

"  Ah ;  you  can  say  it 's  nothing !  Of  course  it 's  nothing  if 
it  is  never  found —  but  it  was  all  I  had." 

"  But  I  say !  what 's  gold  to  you  ?  "  —  With  his  little 
finger  held  apart,  he  lifted  one  tress  of  her  hair. 

She  tossed  her  head  away. 

"  It  might  have  been  something  to  you  !  It  was  all  I  had 
to  pay  my  debts  with." 

"  Indeed ! "  said  he  ;  "  and  may  I  ask  what  debt  you 
owe  to  me?" 

"I  have  accepted  a  thousand  kindnesses.  Why,  you 
picked  me  up  on  the  road !  " 

"  Did  you  expect  to  pay  for  my  '  kindness '  with  that 
stuff?"  ' 

They  were  in  Rae's  office  —  accidentally  private  at  that 
hour.  The  same  depressed  young  Indian  girl  came  in  with 
the  same  rebozo  wrapped  about  her  head,  and  knelt  to  light 
a  fire  in  the  stone  chimney-place  where  logs  were  laid. 
Then  she  rose  and  went  to  the  open  window. 

"  Don't  let  her  close  it,"  Stella  cried ;  "  don't  you  love 
the  smell  of  sea  fog? "  She  drew  up  nearer  to  the  fire. 

"  How  is  your  toothache,  Bonita  ?  "  Eae  asked  the  girl. 
"  You  had  better  go  and  do  as  I  told  you ! "  Bonita 
shook  her  head  mournfully  and  withdrew.  Men  were  talk- 
ing loud  and  laughing  in  the  corridor.  Rae  sank  his 
voice :  "  She  will  be  your  maid  — Bonita." 

"  But  I  can't  stay  here !  you  are  dreaming !  A  little 
while,  perhaps,  till  I  brush  up  my  Spanish.  —  Why  do 
you  look  at  me  ?  " 

"You  hurt  me." 

She  temporized  on  the  old  key  of  pathos :  "  Everything 
hurts,  whichever  way  you  turn  —  me,  I  mean!  You  are 


HAVING  REACHED  THE  BAY         365 

a  vice-king  down  here :  you  have  married  the  king's 
daughter.  Of  course  my  little  kingdom  has  all  gone  to 
smash,"  she  added,  with  bitter  synchronism.  —  "  How  hard 
and  extremely  high  your  vice-regal  chairs  are :  I  think  I 
shall  take  the  floor.  Really  you  don't  belong  down  here ; 
this  is  my  place." 

"Don't  I?"  —he  stretched  himself  on  the  bearskin 
rug  beside  her.  "  This  is  how  it  used  to  be." 

She  pushed  his  arm  away  peevishly.  "  Did  I  hear  you 
say  just  now,  '  my  God  '!  —  what  was  that  for  ?  "  He  did 
not  explain. 

"  Well,"  she  subjoined  :  "  a  very  pleasant  time  was 
had,  and  now  it 's  over.  It  has  n't  ended  very  well  for  me. 
When  I  looked  at  my  poor  frock,  this  morning,  all  over 
those  dreadful  stains,  /  knew  !  Something  of  mine  was 
dead.  I  knew  the  sign !  Qui  Court's  death  finishes  every- 
thing for  me,  unless  some  one  will  go  shares  and  help 
me  find  that  gold.  There  are  n't  more  than  just  so  many 
rivers  in  Calf ornia.  It  was  in  the  sand  —  you  washed  it 
out;  I  mean  you  washed  the  sand  out."  She  was  watching 
him  while  she  rambled ;  the  bait  had  not  taken.  "  I  see ! 
I  can't  tempt  you  ?  " 

"—Not  with  gold." 

"  I  thought  you  were  young  enough  perhaps  to  stake 
something  on  the  chance?  It  is  my  last  chance,  you  know. 
I  suppose  you  are  ambitious  ?  " 

"  I  hope  so." 

"  Well ;  I  've  nothing  but  my  bare  hands,"  —  she 
showed  them.  "I  wasn't  brought  up  to  work,  but  I 
dare  say  I  can  learn." 

Again  Rae  muttered  "  My  God !  "  His  color  deepened 
hotly.  Whether  it  was  prudence  in  the  king's  son-in-law, 


366  A   PICKED  COMPANY 

or  principle  or  ambition,  it  goes  on  record  that  he  made 
a  pause.  The  proper  enquiries  followed.  Had  she  no 
friends  in  the  States  whom  she  could  write  to ?  "I  only 
make  the  suggestion  for  your  sake,  of  course,  you  must 
know ! "  he  added  hurriedly. 

"  I  have  the  relatives  I  told  you  I  ran  away  from.  They 
are  Yankees,  up  in  Oregon,  in  a  raw  settlement  just  be- 
gun. They  brought  me  out  with  them  across  the  plains, 
on  a  sort  of  crusade,  founded  on  religion  and  hard  work ; 
—  old  New  England  Calvinism,  I  suppose,  when  it  was 
ministers  who  ruled." 

She  threw  a  little  more  light,  from  her  own  direction, 
constructive  rather  than  revealing,  upon  her  relations  with 
these  quaint  folk.  Rae  had  seen  specimens  —  of  the  same 
sort,  as  he  imagined  from  the  descriptions  she  dashed  off. 
For  a  creature  like  this,  a  born  exotic  of  fairest  Saxon 
blood,  framed  for  pleasure  and  to  give  pleasure,  what  an 
existence  !  —  what  a  sacrifice ! 

He  rose  and  she  stood  up  languidly  and  faced  him,  with 
a  curious  smile. 

"  I  want  that  gold,  Stella,  my  dear !  Will  you  give  it 
me?" 

She  opened  her  hand  —  "  It 's  worthless  to  me  !  " 

He  freed  her  palm  of  the  clinging  grains.  "  You  will 
deposit  this  now  with  me ;  and  you  shall  draw  on  your 
banker  :  let  it  signify  to  the  extent  of  my  means  whatever 
you  feel  it  might  have  been  worth.  That  is  the  way  to 
arrange  it." 

"  Do  you  know  that  you  insult  me  ?  You  make  me  a 
child !  —  boasting  of  something  that  is  all  imagination." 

"  Is  n't  your  pride  mostly  imagination  ?  —  and  what 
about  my  pride !  You  were  going  to  pay  me  off  with  a 


HAVING  REACHED  THE  BAY         367 

share  in  a  gold-mine !  I  don't  do  that  sort  of  business  with 
ladies." 

"  How  idiotic  we  are !  "  she  sighed.  There  might  be  such 
a  thing  as  carrying  the  point  of  pride  -too  far.  —  "  Alas 
for  those  who  succeed  too  well !  " 

"  Listen :  don't  fret  about  terms."  He  was  quick  to 
perceive  her  hesitation.  "  Be  a  noble-minded  girl !  Here 
is  your  true  account  with  me :  you  can  break  this  bank, 
but,  till  it  does  break,  your  drafts  will  never  be  dishonored." 

Her  hands  were  taken  and  pressed  against  his  velvet 
waistcoat  —  a  very  splendid  affair,  where  indeed  she  might 
have  felt  the  same  disturbance  she  once  caused  in  Sam's 
perspiring  breast,  in  Horace's  poor  cheated  organ,  what 
time  she  had  carried  Jimmy's  boyish  outworks  and  he 
was  defending  the  citadel.  Bradburn  we  leave  out  of  the 
list  of  her  victims :  she  was  his. 

She  drew  her  hands  away,  wondering  at  this  odd  dis- 
taste: was  she  already  blase'e?  Her  bracelet  caught  in 
his  florid  watch-chain  arrangement,  and  an  open-faced 
locket  jumped  out  and  dangled  in  full  view.  She  glanced 
as  he  put  it  back. 

"  The  queen  ?  " 

His  face  turned  crimson. 

"  When  is  she  coming  down? —  You  will  think  me  rude 
again,  but  is  n't  there  danger  of  our  two  accounts  getting 
mixed?  Mine  of  course  is  a  fable.  What,  may  I  ask,  have 
you  to  offer  me  except  charity,  —  suppose  I  were  4  noble- 
minded  '  ?  Do  you  mean  really  to  be  generous  ?  How  gen- 
erous can  a  man  be,  I  wonder  ?  " 

Rae  studied  her  with  gloom  and  with  some  excusable 
resentment.  She  had  been  high-fed  on  the  way  down  with 
flattery  and  fun  and  adventure,  and  just  enough  fatigue 


368  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

thrown  in  to  give  health  and  youth  the  spring  of  resist- 
ance ;  and  the  fresh  wild  scenes  they  rode  through,  day 
by  day,  were  an  equal  stimulus  to  the  imagination.  Last 
night's  celebration  —  what  he  could  remember  of  it  — 
showed  her  no  less  in  a  coming-on  disposition ;  but  it  was 
the  day  after  for  him;  he  should  have  remembered  it 
was  the  same  with  her.  It  could  scarcely  be  called  a  con- 
vincing tie  that  they  had  sat  on  the  floor  together. 

"  And  when  Sarah  turns  me  out  of  the  tent  .  .  .  ?  "  she 
enquired  brutally. 

"Sarah!" 

"Don't  you  read  your  Bible,  Scotchman?  It  begins 
with  Genesis." 

Without  being  remarkably  clever  he  began  to  suspect 
that  this  fury  was  potential  yielding.  She  was  prepared 
to  punish  him  for  his  power. 

He  petted  her.  "  Lovely  one !  I  shall  find  a  place  to 
wear  you  —  '  lest  my  jewel  I  should  tine.'  "  He  drew  her 
in  to  that  place,  fain  to  play  his  part  as  a  gentleman 
should  ;  but  she  criticised  him  savagely  —  him  and  his 
part.  No  doubt  she  despised  him  for  the  lies  he  would  tell 
his  young  wife.  She  had  lately  lived  with  men  who,  if 
they  did  not  make  you  in  love  with  the  Puritan  ideal, 
taught  you  at  least  to  respect  its  strength.  Her  thoughts 
ran  strangely  upon  things  of  no  relevance  to  being  kissed 
by  Eloise  McLoughlin's  handsome  husband:  there  was 
Qui  Court  in  the  room  across  the  patio  ;  she  had  looked 
in  at  him  a  moment  —  stretched  on  two  boards  with  can- 
dles at  his  head.  The  candles  flared,  a  draught  trembled 
the  faded  fuchsia  blossoms  Bonita  had  propped  in  his 
dark  stiff  hands.  She  had  never  seen  Qui  Court  still  ex- 
cept he  was  asleep.  That  he  should  not  move  !  And  there 


HAVING  KEACHED  THE   BAY         369 

was  Aunt  Silence  rocking  in  her  funny  old  chair  by  the 
camp-fire  on  the  mountain ;  she  saw  the  far  sky  wells  tall 
pine  tops  make  when  you  lie  and  look  up  and  see  stars 
drowned  in  their  depths.  The  camp-fire  roared  and 
crackled  and  sent  up  flights  of  sparks  and  the  pines 
made  their  rushing  sound  like  great  wings  overhead  in 
the  dark.  Aunt  Silence  would  not  speak ;  and  then  she 
did  speak !  "  Do  you  expect  me  to  be  ugly  to  you  ?  I 
never  shall  be." 

u  Never !  no,  she  would  pity  me  now.  Tfds  would  dis- 
courage her !  "  The  sick  incoherence  of  her  emotions, 
which  she  hugged  under  the  name  of  despair,  wrought 
her  to  the  point  of  sobs,  hard  sobs !  Her  head  lay  on  this 
other  man's  breast  like  a  broken  flower  ;  and  he  pressed 
her  to  him  thinking,  "  I  have  misjudged  her :  she  is  as 
pure  as  a  child  —  a  lost  child."  Was  he  doing  a  greater 
wrong  than  his  conscience  or  his  code  could  take  care  of  ? 
But  it  was  too  late.  She  was  his. 

"  Now,  God  help  me  to  behave  myself  in  every  other  way" 

How  this  unhappy  young  gentleman  succeeded  in  his 
resolve,  history  must  tell.  I  have  never  found  but  one  al- 
lusion to  the  story  —  a  brief  summing  of  its  close  ;  but  it 
quite  answers  the  purpose. 

They  had  one  of  their  sporadic  revolutions  down  at  the 
Bay  and  our  young  Scotchman  took  the  insurgent's  side. 
It  was  not  expected  he  should  take  any  side,  but  he  did : 
the  rebels  disliked  the  Americans  and  favored  the  Eng- 
lish. Kae  furnished  them  arms,  but  they  were  beaten. 
Under  these  circumstances  we  do  not  pay  our  debts.  He 
found  himself  responsible  for  $30,000  of  the  company's 
money  risked  on  the  lost  cause.  This  may  have  been  the 
final  stroke  on  the  sundering  wedge. 


370  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

He  and  his  wife  had  frequent  quarrels.  "  Rae  certainly 
drank  hard  ;  he  may  have  cherished  errant  loves,"  says  the 
cold  chronicle.  There  was  one  high  scene  early  on  a  win- 
ter morning  in  the  young  couple's  apartments  over  the 
stores.  A  woman's  cries,  —  two  pistol  shots  in  quick  suc- 
cession —  a  fool  and  his  brains  are  soon  parted ;  and  the 
"  bank  "  we  have  heard  of  closed  its  doors  for  this  life 
upon  those  sporting  securities  and  sadly  mixed  accounts, 
and  awaited  the  Examiner. 

"  Sir  George  Simpson  ordered  the  San  Francisco  post 
closed.  The  one  thousand  acre  farm,  which  would  have 
been  worth  more  than  all  the  company's  furs  of  Oregon 
if  they  could  have  held  on  to  it  till  San  Francisco  became 
a  city,  was  relinquished  without  any  compensation,"  says 
history  again.  And  we  sincerely  hope  that  Eloise  Mc- 
Loughlin  did  not  spend  her  life  grieving,  and  that  she 
ultimately  married  a  stronger  man. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A  MAIL  FROM  THE   SOUTH 

To  Mrs.  Lottie  Kiersted,  up  in  Oregon,  from  Samuel  Kiersted; 
dated  San  Francisco,  January,  1850  (Extracts) 

MY  DEAR  LITTLE    WOMAN  :  — 

I  am  just  about  as  homesick  for  you  as  I  can  be,  yet 
every  time  I  look  around  I  see  reason  to  be  thankful  that  you 
and  the  kids  are  not  here.  There  is  just  one  word  for  this 
hell-hole  of  a  place.  Make  it  two  and  a  hyphen,  and  there 
you  are.  I  shan't  be  here  but  a  few  days  more.  Have  got 
my  stuff  and  expect  to  start  for  Hawkins  Bar  on  the  Stanis- 
low  Monday,  I  guess,  or  Tuesday.  I  don't  know  as  it  is 
on  the  Stanislow,  but  it 's  either  that  or  another  river  with 
a  name  I  can't  spell :  begins  with  "  Too —  "  [Tuolumne.] 

Well,  say !  I  wish  you  could  see  the  shipping  in  this 
harbor  that  only  woke  up  day  before  yesterday  from  a 
trance  that  must  have  lasted  since  creation.  Spanking  tall 
great  clipper  ships  from  round  the  Horn  don't  seem  to  feel 
it  any  condescension  to  tie  up  in  front  of  this  mud-wharf 
town.  On  Long  Dock  it  is  half -leg  deep.  Houses?  —  a 
mean  collection  of  wood  and  canvas  shacks  strung  along 
the  bitter  windy  sand-hills ;  streets  that  are  wallows,  full 
of  the  God-forsakenest  crowd  on  earth. 

It  is  going  to  be  another  story,  though,  before  many 
years.  The  Bay  is  another  story  now !  They  call  its  ocean 
entrance  the  Golden  Gate.  Sounds  fancy,  but  it  is  n't  any 
too  fancy  if  you  could  see  it.  Give  me  the  treeless  moun- 
tains, after  all  —  the  colors  they  get  at  sundown ! 


372  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

Well !  and  how  about  all  of  you  ?  Have  n't  heard  a  word 
yet  and  I  don't  suppose  you  have  had  anything  from  me. 
Don't  you  get  to  worrying,  that 's  all.  The  mails  can't  be 
regular.  I  am  as  hearty  as  a  steer ;  feeling  fine,  and  glad 
I  don't  drink,  if  you  know  what  that  means.  There  is  n't 
a  dozen  or  a  hundred,  but  thousands  of  men,  gambling  in 
this  town  at  one  time  and  most  of  them  drunk  the  rest  of 
the  time.  One  single  house  gets  $  150,000  a  year  for  the 
rent  of  the  monte  tables.  Of  course  the  sharpers  and 
black-legs  scoop  all  the  money ;  the  fools  go  back  to  the 
mines  and  dig.  Sunday  here  is  no  different  from  any  other 
day,  only  more  drunkenness.  —  As  for  the  women ! 

I  must  tell  you  something  —  but  don't  let  it  get  to  any 
of  Mr.  Hannington's  folks  —  I've  seen  Stella!  What 
do  you  think  of  that !  She  was  with  a  man  who  looked 
dressed  good  enough  for  a  Congressman  or  a  college  pro- 
fessor, but  a  card  sharp,  I  guess,  by  his  eye.  I  expect 
better  men  than  him  have  been  hung.  They  were  right  in 
the  light  going  into  one  of  these  common  variety  shows 
that  I  would  n't  think  any  lady  could  sit  through.  I  saw 
she  recognized  me  by  the  look  she  gave,  and  then  she 
did njt  see  me!  I  stared  so  hard  the  crowd  looked  at  me 
and  sort  of  laughed,  and  I  said  right  out  before  I  thought, 
"  Why,  I  know  that  lady  !  "  —  and  they  laughed  more. 

She  is  as  handsome  as  ever.  I  guess  there  is  n't  any 
handsomer  woman  in  this  town,  which  is  saying  little 
enough,  but  a  lot  of  money  is  spent  on  women  here.  Her 
face  looks  awful  small,  somehow.  She  had  on  a  little  white 
flaring  bonnet  with  a  pink  wreath  inside  and  her  curls 
hanging  down  and  a  lace  shawl  over  a  splendid  silk  dress. 
She  did  n't  look  to  be  in  want !  It  is  only  the  last  step  on 
the  road  she  was  going  when  I  saw  her  last,  but  I  was  dumb- 


A  MAIL  FROM  THE   SOUTH          373 

struck.  You  can't  believe  it  of  a  woman  you  have  known  ! 
And  I  don't  know  why  I  tell  you,  only  I  don't  seem  able 
to  get  it  off  my  mind.  Aunt  Silence's  niece  that  she  'd 
have  done  anything  for,  — here  in  this  town,  —  alone :  I 
could  n't  make  it  seem  true.  I  asked  a  little  Mexican  gen- 
tleman, in  a  shawl,  if  he  knew  who  that  lady  was  that  just 
went  inside.  A  funny  question,  but  they  all  acted  more 
or  less  as  if  they  knew  her  and  every  eye  was  on  her. 
He  took  off  his  big  cart-wheel  hat,  and  his  cigarette  out 
of  his  teeth,  very  polite,  and  said  some  words  in  Spanish, 
never  cracked  a  smile.  I  only  caught  senoras,  but  a  white 
man  with  him  put  it,  without  any  bones,  into  Bible  Eng- 
lish, so  there  is  n't  any  mistake  about  it.  I  found  out  since 
what  that  Spanish  was,  the  little  senor  called  her.  It 
meant  one  of  the  Light-hearted  ladies.  Tried  to  soften 
it,  I  guess,  thinking  she  might  be  some  relation.  Well,  it 
did  n't  help  the  matter,  for  me,  any. 

Nobody  here  knows  her  right  name,  and  I  shan't  tell 
you  the  name  she  goes  by.  She  chose  it  to  hide  herself, 
and  there  she  showed  some  little  feeling.  We  don't  need 
'to  ever  speak  of  it  again. 

There  will  be  wives  and  children  by  the  ship-load,  whoop- 
ing it  in  here  before  another  Christmas.  Then  we  will 
start  some  real  families.  There  's  a  good  deal  more  in  this 
country  besides  gold.  The  gold  has  made  all  this  pande- 
monium rush  that  brings  the  scum  of  the  earth,  but  scum 
is  generally  on  top.  There  are  decent  men  here  —  as  good 
as  I  be !  Come,  now  ;  don't  spare  my  blushes  ;  say  that 's 
good  enough  !  And  there  are  shrewd,  quiet  chaps,  mind- 
ing their  own  affairs,  picking  up  money  hand  over  fist  in 
real  estate  or  commissions  or  starting  freight  lines.  Freight 
to  the  mines  is  sixty  cents  a  pound.  Any  sort  of  a  jack 


374  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

mechanic  gets  his  ten  to  twenty  dollars  a  day.  The  price 
of  food  is  scandalous,  ridiculous ! 

This  country  where  I  am  bound  is  a  happy  Canaan,  so 
I  hear,  —  beautiful  oaks  and  patches  of  grass  and  little 
valleys,  —  gulches,  they  are  called,  —  that  stay  green  most 
all  summer.  The  river  comes  out  of  a  mountain  gorge  — 
Say,  sis !  can't  you  see  us  planted  on  a  little  ranch,  rais- 
ing our  own  stuff  and  maybe  a  trifle  over  —  old  man  in 
his  shirt-sleeves  washing  gold  on  the  sandbar  —  our  own 
little  gold-mine — own  little  cabin  and  pigs  and  hens  and 
calves  —  own  little  wife  and  kiddies  !  Eh  ?  Now,  get  that 
everlasting  sewing  done  before  spring  —  pack  up  your 
goods  and  auction  off  the  furniture.  You  ought  to  get  good 
prices,  so  many  folks  coming  in.  Make  Jim  Yardley  stick 
to  his  word  about  taking  the  place  on  shares  —  don't  want 
to  sell  the  house  from  under  you,  in  case  anything  should 
happen.  And  before  the  salmon  begin  to  run  expect  to 
hear  me  hollerin'  for  you  down  here.  We  will  keep  our 
Sundays  and  spend  them  in  the  woods.  You  and  the  chicks 
can  hunt  wild  flowers  and  I  '11  get  some  fishing ;  and 
game  is  plenty  —  deer  and  mallards  and  plover  —  and  the 
mountain  quail,  which  they  say  for  eating  beats  anything. 

I  expect  to  be  quite  a  few  days  getting  up  country. 
Teams  can't  make  more  than  three  miles  a  day  across  those 
boggy  flats  and  post-oak  quicksands.  That 's  from  Chinese 
Diggings  to  Hawkins  Bar.  In  summer  I  s'pose  it  will  dry 
up  and  crack  open.  Well,  we  can't  have  everything  and 
have  it  all  at  once ! 

Talk  of  chances !  Sacramento  City  is  just  a  mushroom 
village,  on  a  flat  point  that 's  part  of  the  year  a  foot  or 
more  below  high- water.  Lots  that  could  have  been  bought 
six  months  ago  for  two  and  three  hundred  are  selling  now 


A  MAIL  FROM  THE  SOUTH          375 

easy  for  thirty-five  hundred.  Of  course  I  shan't  break  into 
that  yet  awhile,  but  I  hain't  forgot  how  to  farm.  If  I 
should  happen  to  stake  out  a  poor  claim  and  can't  make 
wages,  as  wages  are  here,  I  will  turn  to,  I  guess,  and 
raise  foodstuff  and  sell  to  these  other  fellows  at  boom 
prices.  That 's  what  Jim  Yardley  said :  he  laughed  at  me  ! 
You  go  down  there  and  dig  your  gold  —  when  you  find 
any.  Oregon  will  feed  you !  Well,  Oregon  is  n't  going  to 
do  it  all.  This  country  is  going  to  be  some  on  wheat  and 
grass,  and  cattle  and  various  other  things.  —  Tell  Jimmy 
not  to  fret !  .  .  . 

From  Samuel  Kiersted  at  Hawkins  Bar  to  James  Yardley, 
dated  six  weeks  later. 

DEAR  JIM  :  —  I  'm  in  considerable  of  a  rush,  but  there 
is  something  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  for  your  opinion. 
Been  thinking  about  that  money  Mrs.  Bradburn  said  she 
would  n't  take  and  wanted  it  put  into  a  church  or  a  school- 
house  in  memory  of  the  man  she  thought  she  knew,  and 
we  could  n't  see  it  somehow,  and  your  father  said  it  would 
hurt  her  to  send  it  back.  As  I  understood,  we  voted  it 
should  be  held  in  trust  for  Stella,  and  if  it  was  too  late 
to  do  her  any  good  't  was  to  help  any  young  woman  in 
similar  trouble  or  likely  to  be.  And  we  never  had  any 
case  to  call  for  it.  We  are  not  that  sort  of  a  community, 
are  we?  —  and  not  likely  to  be  for  some  years  to  come  ; 
but  it  is  different  here:  I  am  speaking  of  now.  I  am 
glad  you  and  your  wife  have  kept  what  Lottie  told  you 
about  Stella.  I  did  n't  mean  it  should  reach  the  elders. 
It  is  too  late,  I  'm  afraid,  for  her.  She  has  more  money 
than  ig  good  for  her  slipping  through  her  fingers  every 
day.  If  she  could  have  had  it  —  come  by  honestly  —  in 


376  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

time,  she  might  have  felt  less  hemmed-in.  She  never  liked 
the  life  up  there.  You  can't  blame  her.  If  she  had  had  the 
means  she  might  have  gone  back  East  (might,  I  say !)  and 
perhaps  married  that  first  man  she  told  me  about  once, 
that  she  broke  with  for  Bradburn  :  I  guess  he  would  have 
taken  her.  Now,  she  won't  need  money  till  her  capital  is 
gone.  You  know  what  I  mean,  poor  thing.  But  the  women 
are  coming  in  here  fast — all  sorts.  Some  the  worst,  some 
only  risky.  The  Southwest  gets  in  a  good  deal  of  beauty 
and  a  soft  kind  of  disposition ;  there  are  French  and 
Creole  and  the  half  Indian  Spanish  —  Well,  I  could  think 
some  of  that  money  might  perhaps  do  a  little  good  out 
here.  I  don't  mean  sending  the  money  here.  But  —  to 
finish  about  Stella :  ten  to  one  I  '11  never  come  across  her 
again.  We  are  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Bay. 
She  is  a  first-class  planet  of  the  night.  She  will  never  hide 
her  light  in  a  mountain  camp  —  and,  as  I  say,  no  amount 
of  money  could  help  her.  But  there  are  young  girls  like 
wild  weeds  around  here  something  might  help  if  you  catch 
them  in  time.  I  thought  your  friends  back  East  might 
perhaps  know  some  good  hard-twisted  women  with  their 
livings  to  earn  who  would  n't  be  scared  to  come  out  here 
if  their  passage  could  be  paid.  Suppose  they  were  to  marry 
right  away !  They  would  be  doing  the  best  kind  of  mis- 
sionary work  wherever  they  make  their  homes.  I  expect 
Lottie  to  be  a  shining  little  light  when  I  set  her  on  my 
hill.  You  can  touch  pitch  and  not  be  defiled !  Inside,  is 
your  affair !  The  outside  will  take  care  of  itself.  Lottie, 
like  enough,  will  be  the  only  decent  woman  in  this  camp, 
but  where  there  's  one  there  ought  to  be  more,  and  when 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together,  the  men  will  begin  to 
straighten  up.  Little  Sunday  supper  invitations  will  be  at 


A  MAIL  FROM  THE   SOUTH          377 

a  premium,  and  picnics  in  the  woods  with  nice  women- 
folks and  baskets,  with  clean  napkins,  full  of  good  home 
things  to  eat.  Why,  the  boys  would  just  tumble  over  each 
other  to  get  a  front  seat  at  that  kind  of  thing.  Of  course 
the  dregs  of  both  kinds  would  keep  where  they  have  to  be. 
But  what  we  principally  need  out  here  now,  /  think,  are 
good,  plain  old-fashioned  women-folks  that  you  can't  budge 
from  their  hymn-books  and  their  cook-books  and  the  old 
Ten  Commandments,  and  who  are  not  afraid  for  their  own 
righteousness,  as  if  it  was  a  white  starched  skirt.  .  .  . 

I  said  something  to  Lottie  about  our  land  —  not  more 
than  half  joking.  Of  course,  Jim,  if  you  don't  feel  to  do 
it  —  what  was  said  was  only  verbal.  I  don't  expect  to  hold 
you,  but  your  father  urged  me  not  to  sell  out,  and  I  saw 
he  had  reason.  I  might  get  hurt  or  something  might  hap- 
pen and  then  I  should  want  Lottie  to  go  right  back 
among  you  all.  Well,  I  've  talked  enough :  you  can  put 
the  idea  about  that  trust  money  better  than  I  can.  I  don't 
want  to  poke  myself  in,  and  may  be  it 's  all  a  bum  notion 
arising  out  of  the  contrast  between  things  here  and  to 
home.  The  country  is  all  right  —  never  saw  a  better  — 
but  the  social  side,  the  moral  side  —  to  talk  big !  —  that 's 
another  story.  But  you  can't  help  liking  these  fellows, 
and  there 's  no  market  for  humbug  here,  more  than  with 
a  gang  of  schoolboys. 

Now,  Jim  :  here 's  a  word  for  you  which  I  never  could 
say  to  your  face,  bless  you !  You  did  me  a  man's  turn 
that  day  up  in  the  wheat-field,  and  I  was  mad  enough 
then  to  have  licked  you,  because  you  were  too  damn 
right!  If  I  hadn't  been  red-hot  with  shame  those  few 
cool  words  of  yours  would  n't  have  kicked  up  such  a  splut- 
ter on  my  chest.  I  want  to  tell  you  :  she  waylaid  me,  the 


378  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

last  thing,  the  little  monkey.  She  waited  for  me  on  the 
road  to  Champoeg  and  gave  me  the  fight  of  my  life,  for 
just  a  minute :  I  saw  then  you  were  right.  She  is  as  God 
made  her,  but  she  is  n't  safe  to  pet  or  play  with  for  a  plain 
chap  like  me.  —  To  do  her  justice,  she  did  give  the  first 
warning  about  the  cussed  Indian  troubles  that  were  head- 
ing up  that  fall  —  Perhaps  she  may  have  cancelled  with 
that  one  word  most  of  the  actual  harm  she 's  done,  for  she 
never  hurt  any  one,  I  guess,  who  had  n't  the  taint  in  him 
first,  and  if  she  had  been  revengeful  she  could  have  kept 
still.  To  be  sure  —  come  to  think  —  she  made  it  her  last 
argument  for  me  to  quit  and  go  along  with  her  gold-hunt- 
ing. But  let  her  have  what  credit  we  can ;  the  benefit  was 
the  same.  It  makes  her  for  once  the  means  of  good,  as 
she  has  been  the  means  of  evil,  I  dare  say,  many  times ; 
but  evil  was  done  to  her,  and  whoever  she  has  tempted 
had  his  trial  to  stand  —  if  not  from  her,  some  other  way. 
Hear  me  preach,  will  you ! 

And  I  wish  you  would  tell  your  father  how  good  it  all 
seems  to  look  back  on.  I  am  not  for  going  back,  —  I  Ve 
got  to  work  out  this  blame  restless  streak,  the  part  of  me 
that 's  never  grown  up,  — but  the  life  was  all  right,  and  I 
start  in  here  a  stiffer  sort  of  man  for  those  years  in  our 
little  church  community  where  we  were  n't  ashamed  to 
sing  the  old  hymns  and  pray  together  (this  is  n't  into 
you,  Jim,  —  I  got  started  on  the  wrong  tack,  that's  all) 
and  sit  under  a  good  man's  preaching.  Best  of  all,  the 
babies  coming  along,  and  that  other  fellowship  of  our  fami- 
lies when  we  carried  Aunt  Silence  up  on  the  hill,  shoulder 
to  shoulder  ;  Jim  —  I  could  have  cried  that  day  to  look  at 
your  wife  and  her  father.  We  don't  have  that  kind  of 
funerals  here,  nor  the  babies  —  but  they  are  coming. 


A  MAIL   FROM   THE   SOUTH  379 

Good-bye,  old  man.  My  best  regards  to  all.  I  'd  put 
it  stronger,  but  what 's  the  use !  You  know  how  I  feel. 
And  here 's  my  hand  on  everything  that  ever  was  between 
us,  Jim.  It 's  been  good,  every  bit  of  it,  —  and  I  guess 
you  're  glad  I  'm  through ! 

Yours  truly, 

SAM. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL 

VERY  few  among  San  Francisco's  tide  of  strangers  who 
called  themselves  men  of  the  world  would  have  deemed 
their  study  of  the  city  complete  without  an  introduction 
to  a  lady  who  flourished  there  in  '54,  under  the  tem- 
porary name  of  Cassie  Clayton.  Her  true  name,  as  well 
as  the  days  of  her  past  (which  no  doubt  had  been  better 
days  since  they  could  hardly  have  been  worse),  held 
but  a  speculative  interest  for  the  friends  her  life  permit- 
ted her  to  make.  Herself,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  which 
she  could  have  had  least  use  for,  memory  or  hope.  Miss 
Clayton  was  thirty-one  and  fast  losing  both  her  health 
and  her  beauty. 

For  seven  weeks  before  this  warning  birthday,  she 
had  been  suffering  from  the  effects  of  a  neglected  cold. 
The  weather  did  not  improve ;  her  habits  could  not 
change.  She  and  a  friend  were  seated  at  late  supper,  in 
the  inner  room  of  a  draughty  gambling-palace  on  Market 
Street.  The  swing-door  at  her  back  fanned  her  bare 
shoulders  with  frequent  gusts  of  wind  sucked  through 
the  intermediate  bar-room  from  the  rainy  night  outside. 
Following  a  frightful  paroxysm  of  coughing  prolonged 
till  she  could  scarcely  see,  her  companion  rose  with  a 
friendly  oath,  wrapped  her  shawl  about  her  and  placed 
her  in  his  own  seat.  •"  Now,"  said  he,  "  you  quit  this  !  You 
get  out  of  this  fog  or  you  '11  die  !  " 

She  thought  it  quite  likely  and  professed  her  absolute 


THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL    381 

indifference,  one  way  or  the  other.  What  did  cause  anguish 
that  could  n't  be  discussed  was  the  ignominy,  the  ugliness 
of  these  seizures.  Having  caught  a  glimpse  of  herself  in 
the  mirrors  that  lined  the  gaudy  little  cabinet,  she  knew 
the  worst ;  —  positively,  a  gorgon !  muscles  around  mouth 
and  nostrils  coarsely  distended,  eyes  watering,  forehead 
in  wrinkles,  swollen  lips,  hair  dark  with  perspiration  ;  and 
nothing  could  be  hid! — no  protecting  handkerchief  or 
extenuating  fan  ;  both  hands  were  needed  to  brace  your 
pain-pierced  sides. 

There  had  been  another  mirror  opposite :  —  the  man's 
face  who  watched  her.  It  was  enough !  Miss  Clayton  un- 
derstood. Naturally  she  had  not  often  been  looked  at  like 
that  before.  There  was  no  reason  why  it  should  not  end 
in  death  as  her  mother's  cough  had  ended,  in  a  better 
climate  than  this;  among  one's  other  misfortunes  —  to 
have  had  a  consumptive  mother ! 

"  Well,  if  I  have  to  come  to  it,  I  won't  die  where  any 
of  them  can  see  me."  "  They  "  were  all  the  friends  she 
had,  but  they  were  not  for  rainy  days.  She  was  the  lady 
of  their  mirth. 

Of  course  she  had  memories  —  if  she  chose  to  let 
them  come.  It  was  noon  next  day  when  she  awoke,  cough- 
ing. Her  windows  had  been  closed  but  the  room  was  cold 
and  damp.  Cotton  plush  and  gilt  girandoles  and  Notting- 
ham lace  did  not  add  to  its  comfort  or  its  cleanliness. 
There  was  an  empty  grate  and  a  tobacco-stained  pan 
beneath  heaped  with  gray  cinders.  It  would  be  another 
hour  before  the  Chinaboy  came  with  breakfast  and  the 
breakfast  would  add  insult  to  injury.  Neither  was  there 
joy  in  cock-tails,  for  spirits  made  her  cough.  And  if  you 
drugged  yourself  to  sleep,  you  compounded  with  that 


382  A   PICKED   COMPANY  ' 

wolfish  cough  at  usurious  interest.  So  there  was  no  help 
in  anything. 

She  remembered  how  absurdly  well  she  had  been  in  Dug- 
dale,  through  all  that  iron  cold !  —  going  to  bed  in  the  icy 
northeast  chamber,  your  nostrils  sticking  together  when 
you  breathed,  your  breath  a  cloud  of  vapor ;  waking 
up  under  mounds  of  covers  to  watch  Barbie,  out  on  the 
cold  carpet,  start  a  fire  in  the  fat  jolly  monster  of  a  stove, 
and  going  off  to  sleep  again  lulled  by  its  tremor  of 
heat,  and  the  good  strong  roar  of  seasoned  oak  wood  in- 
side, turning  its  black  cheek  a  cherry-red ;  and  the  frost 
tears  trickling  down  the  window-panes.  Unconscionable 
way  of  life,  cold  as  the  moral  law,  but  so  clean  —  and 
good  !  yes,  sometimes ;  there  certainly  was  a  side  to  it  if 
you  hadn't  got  to  swallow  the  whole.  This  had  been 
Miss  Clayton's  quarrel  with  existence:  that  you  cannot 
pluck  the  rose  of  each  situation  without  encountering 
the  thorns.  And  so  few  persons  you  call  your  friends 
seem  willing  to  take  the  thorns  and  leave  you  the  rose ; 
certainly  no  men.  In  short,  if  you  consent  to  live  you 
must  accept  regrets.  But  no  philosophy  known  to  ladies 
of  her  profession  could  meet  this  falling-off  in  looks, 
this  perpetual  harrowing  cough  that  pulled  your  hair  out 
by  dreary  handfuls,  ravaged  your  figure,  took  away  the 
desire  to  eat  and  the  strength  to  drink.  Some  forms  of 
sympathy  might  have  been  tolerated  if  they  embraced 
the  general  tragedy  of  lives  like  hers  without  going 
into  personalities,  but  let  no  man  whose  company  she 
had  suffered  in  a  tributary  sense,  presume  to  turn  upon 
her  and  pity  her  for  her  looks. 

The  Sierra  foothills  were  then  almost  untouched  in 
their  lofty  draping  of  pine  and  fir,  and  as  if  Nature  had 


THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL    383 

planned  her  virgin  water-courses  to  attract  gayer  com- 
pany, deciduous  families  of  flickering  gray-stemmed  trees 
lined  their  gorges,  stretching  up  for  such  touches  of  sun- 
light as  the  forest  aisles  let  in.  It  would  be  a  luxury  to 
count  over  these  young  Western  cousins  with  old  names 
from  the  East  and  North :  the  aspens  and  willows  and 
birches  and  buckthorns  and  alders  and  lindens ;  the 
rhododendron  and  the  mountain-laurel,  perfectly  at  home 
with  California's  wild  white  lilac  of  the  coast  range. 
And  here  a  madrono  thrusting  out  a  bare  cinnamon-col- 
ored arm  from  his  resplendent  cloak  of  leaves,  or  a  com- 
pany of  those  gallant  little  native  sons,  the  canyon-oak 
brotherhood,  captains  all,  stiff  and  prickly  and  glistening, 
but  subtle  in  drawing  and  rich  in  light  and  shade  as  the 
most  trepitant  birches  and  aspens. 

The  tall  flowering  dogwood  and  the  wild  lilac's  plumes 
announced  that  it  was  May.  In  this  high  region  they 
blossom  full  late,  according  to  the  season.  A  few  miners 
were  washing  gold  in  a  new  camp  on  Deer  Creek,  and  up 
in  the  foldings  of  the  hills  an  old  Mexican  couple  had 
squatted  near  a  mountain  stream ;  they  sold  to  the  boys 
in  the  gulch  for  pinches  or  spoonfuls  of  "  dust "  what  was 
then  rarer  —  new-laid  eggs,  fresh  butter  and  buttermilk 
richly  specked  with  cream,  which  the  homesick  ones  from 
Eastern  farms  said  tasted  better  than  Old  Rye. 

Innes,  the  Louisianian,  had  come  out  with  Colonel 
Webb's  party  by  the  fearful  cholera  route  of  '48-'49,  which 
disease  took  thirteen  of  their  number  before  they  reached 
Rio  Grande ;  where  about  twenty  more  gave  out  and  went 
back  with  their  discouraged  leader,  who  practically  had 
deserted  them.  The  others  entered  into  a  compact  with 
Audubon  the  younger  (son  of  the  great  naturalist)  to  stick 


384  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

by  him  for  one  year  if  he  would  lead  them  through.  Some 
went  back  with  him  when  the  year  was  up ;  but  many 
more  remained,  careless  victims  of  the  gold-craze,  and 
drifted  from  camp  to  camp  through  fortune  and  infor- 
tune,  thinking  each  year  would  be  their  last.  Innes  had 
reached  the  mature  age  of  twenty-seven  and  was  still  his 
mother's  knight,  tall  and  limber  and  handsome ;  great- 
grandson  of  an  adventurous  young  Scotchman  and  a 
gentle  Creole  lady  of  pure  French  blood  ;  very  attractive 
ancestry  but  in  the  men  it  had  not  held  out  very  well 
against  two  generations  of  leisure  in  the  South,  and  the 
sporting  habits  of  a  slaveholding  aristocracy.  With  warn- 
ings back  of  him,  Innes  had  taken  a  few  silent  resolves 
which  the  face  of  his  lovely,  tragic  mother  helped  him 
to  keep.  He  was  by  way  of  being  a  Catholic,  but  took 
that  part  of  his  inheritance  lightly. 

He  shaved  every  Sunday  morning  and  presented  his 
clean,  handsome  countenance  at  the  seiiora's  spring-house 
for  that  drink  of  buttermilk  she  saved  for  him  fresh  from 
Saturday's  churning.  The  senora's  mouth  would  moisten 
like  a  good  cook's  while  she  watched  him  swig  it  down. 

"  If  you  drink  buttermilk,"  she  told  him,  "  and  behave 
yourself,  you  will  have  a  hundred  years." 

Through  these  transactions  at  the  spring-house  it  came 
about  that  he  heard  of  the  senora's  boarder,  the  sick 
young  lady  from  town  (who  had  not  behaved  herself  over- 
well,  the  senora  suspected).  He  often  saw  her  on  his 
tramps  over  the  hills,  with  her  white  dog  racing  ahead 
of  her,  or  both  of  them  lying  out  on  the  pine  slopes  in  a 
streak  of  sunlight.  Having  observed  the  White  One, 
his  build  and  breed,  Innes  carefully  left  his  own  dog  at 
home.  Personally  he  had  a  way  with  dogs,  but  he  would 


THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL    385 

have  given  the  pair  a  respectfully  wide  berth  save  for 
Mike's  insufferance.  At  the  first  spank,  which  opened 
their  acquaintance  with  the  impact  of  Mike's  body 
against  his  thigh,  the  young  lady  had  sprung  to  his  as- 
sistance —  was  seized  herself  by  a  fit  of  coughing  and  sat 
down  on  the  pine-needles  to  finish  it,  by  which  time  it 
was  seen  he  could  take  care  of  himself  (she  would  have 
scorned  a  man  who  couldn't).  Presently  she  wiped  her 
eyes,  lifted  a  flushed  and  laughing  face  and  sighed  out  an 
apology  for  Mike's  assault.  She  was  no  gorgon  now: 
she  had  been  six  weeks  in  the  mountains. 

There  was  no  stiffness  after  that.  He  found  her  irresis- 
tible in  her  free  passes  of  talk,  and  her  amusing  manners 
with  the  dog.  They  had  a  little  language  of  their  own ;  he 
learned  to  talk  it  and  he  and  Mike's  mistress  bestowed 
it  occasionally  upon  each  other.  And  did  she  spare  this 
fresh-faced  boy  ?  Not  at  all !  she  was  too  proud  of  him. 
His  ardent,  modest  gaze  conveyed  a  challenge  as  delicate 
as  it  was  assured.  Young  Southerners  and  a  few  Northern 
boys  of  innocent  daring  bring  that  look  alike  out  of  their 
provincial  homes.  Here  was  compensation  for  Jimmy's 
rankling  scorn.  Who  can  say,  but  for  that  unbearable 
recollection  which  time  had  never  cured^  she  might  not 
have  let  this  one  go  ? 

How  did  Miss  Clayton  (who  was  not  Miss  Clayton 
there)  ever  come  to  know  of  Paradise  Valley  ?  One  with 
her  assortment  of  friends  to  draw  upon  may  hear  of  every- 
thing, but  the  name  need  not  deceive :  there  are  hundreds 
of  such  paradises  hid  in  the  long  laps  of  the  foothills  as 
they  stretch  down  towards  the  Sacramento,  greeting  strange 
buttes  of  the  valley  that  rise  like  peaks  out  of  a  polar  sea, 
in  the  season  of  fogs  which  roll  up  and  cover  the  lowlands. 


386  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

The  old  couple  made  much  of  their  guest  and  gave  her 
good,  homely  advice;  sent  her  to  bed  early,  fed  her  on 
eggs  and  olive  oil  and  new  milk.  When  his  wife  brought 
the  milk,  Senor  Zapato  (Old  Shoes,  the  boys  called  him) 
would  fetch  a  certain  bottle :  "  Un  poco  ?  "  tilting  a  little 
whiskey  into  the  milk,  and  a  voice  as  coaxing  as  his  glance 
would  answer,  "  Poco  mds,  padrecito !  " 

The  wife  approved  less  of  a  "  stick  "  in  those  glasses ; 
in  her  judgment  there  had  probably  been  too  many  "  sticks  " 
already  in  the  young  lady's  draughts  of  existence.  She 
mentioned  her  suspicions  of  the  senorita's  past.  The  old 
man  smiled.  "  It  is  possible ;  she  is  very  pretty  and  she 
wears  no  wedding-ring."  Neither  spoke  much  English  and 
they  were  not  talkers,  outside.  A  shrug  finished  the  mat- 
ter :  it  was  all  the  same. 

Innes,  whose  pans  would  not  pan  out  as  the  fame  of  the 
Gulch  had  predicted,  went  oftener  to  the  rancho  till  his 
partner  began  to  spread  the  news  hilariously,  and  the 
senora  hinted  that  her  boarder  had  left  the  city  to  escape 
from  too  much  company ;  a  plausible  fiction  well  meant,  a 
motherly  arm  cast  about  her  favorite.  With  him  it  was  not 
all  the  same.  She  saw  there  was  a  little  devil  in  his  eye 
that  had  never  done  much  harm  as  yet ;  the  seiiorita  knew 
how  to  loose  that  side  in  boys  who  were  not  yet  men. 

The  hint  was  taken.  Still  the  young  spring  rovers 
crossed  each  other's  path  in  the  pine  woods  as  before :  Mike 
took  care  of  that. 

Innes  had  no  experience  by  which  he  could  have  placed 
this  woman,  in  her  regenerate  mood.  As  to  instinct?  Na- 
ture had  taken  back  her  wanton  child  and  was  curing  her  of 
the  unbelievable  past  as  deep  as  Nature  goes,  irrespective 
of  habits  of  the  soul.  She  did  not  believe  it  herself,  when 


THE   GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL    387 

she  sat  beside  the  unsuspecting  boy,  with  Mike  between 
them,  his  chest  across  her  knee,  his  calloused  elbows  dig- 
ging into  her  lap,  her  feet  crossed  under  her  like  a  school- 
girl and  her  long  braids  sweeping  the  ground.  That  beau- 
tiful hair  had  ceased  to  fall,  there  was  no  powder  on  her 
face  nor  black  around  her  eyes ;  she  had  given  herself  up 
to  the  sun's  painting.  She  wore  a  short  skirt  of  miner's 
jeans  and  a  dark  blue  flannel  blouse  of  a  mannish  cut, 
strained  across  her  bosom.  The  old  curves  had  come  back. 
At  this  time  the  boy  had  excuse  enough  for  his  innocence 
in  playing  with  fire. 

Miss  Clayton  had  decided  nothing  —  except  to  drift. 
She  refused  to  think.  Moonlight  nights  were  breaking  her 
heart  with  their  beauty,  unshared.  The  boy's  partner 
rode  to  Downieville  to  buy  supplies,  after  the  winter's 
embargo  of  snow:  he  could  do  as  he  liked  with  his  even- 
ings now,  without  risking  profane  comment.  He  came  and 
stood  one  night  in  the  entrance  to  the  trellised  porch  where 
her  hammock  swung.  He  came  no  further,  but  stood  and 
looked  at  her  in  silence.  She  could  not  see  his  face  dis- 
tinctly, but  his  hovering,  troubled  presence  spoke  his 
longing.  Had  she  not  been  calling  him  with  her  thoughts  ? 

"  Oh,  there  you  are ! "  she  saluted  him  lightly ;  "  I 
wondered  if  you  were  going  to  waste  all  these  lovely 
nights  down  there  alone  ?  " 

"  You  have  never  asked  me  to  come." 

"  I  don't  ask  people :  they  ask  me.  I  thought  you  liked 
your  own  company  best." 

"No,  no;  you  couldn't  think  that,"  he  stammered. 
"You  must  have  known  I  was  waiting  to  —  to  be  asked." 
He  took  a  seat  on  the  low  bench  along  the  house-wall 
close  to  her  hammock  and  sought  for  her  hand.  She  let 


388  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

it  lie  a  long  time  in  his  while  neither  spoke.  Every  symp- 
tom of  her  power  she  was  deadly  familiar  with,  but  his 
resistance  had  been  new.  He  had  reason  for  resisting, 
—  not  through  any  doubt  of  his  need  of  this  woman, 
but  because  of  crucifying  needs  at  home. 

"  Do  you  really  want  me,  here  —  now  ?  " 

"  How  could  any  one  in  the  wide  world  not  want  you  ?  " 
she  cooed. 

He  drew  the  hammock  close  and  bent  over  her,  going 
down  on  his  knees,  only  to  sink  back  and  close  his  eyes 
trembling.  His  fear  of  her  was  a  luxury  so  delicate  be- 
yond dreams,  that  she  would  have  made  it  last  longer  but 
that  she  dreamed  also  of  his  kiss. 

That  night  his  heart  was  torn  from  him,  poor  boy  ;  and 
the  woman  lay  awake,  her  soul  in  tears. 

"  He  is  good !  O  God !  he  is  as  good  as  they  were,  and 
he  does  n't  know  it !  He 's  not  thinking  about  it  and  watch- 
ing himself.  He  isn't  watching  me.  He  is  n't  afraid;  a 
child  could  deceive  him.  O  God  !  save  me  when  he  knows! 
It  will  kill  him,  or  he  will  kill  me." 

His  worship  she  must  expect  to  lose  —  even  she  knew 
that ;  but  wives  lose  their  husband's  worship,  about  that 
time  when  the  first  holy  fear  departs.  His  passion  was 
enough.  Wives  lose  that,  too :  who  could  know  it  better 
than  she? 

"  What  men  never  tire  of  is  beauty  and  courage  and 
naturalness.  If  I  tell  him  what  I  am,  —  if  I  don't  pre- 
tend to  be  anything  but  myself,  —  he  can't  despise  me 
so  much.  But  I  must  tell  him,  before  any  one  else  gets 
the  first  word.  How  many  people,"  she  groaned;  "how 
many  I  have  known  !  "  She  heard  her  life  told  everywhere. 

" '  What  I  am ' !  But  I  am  not  that.  I  could  make  my- 


THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE  OF  ALL    389 

self  all  over  for  him  if  once  he  could  know  the  truth  and 
love  me  —  not  the  same  but  love  me !  I  can  show  him 
heaven,  for  I  have  seen  hell."  This  was  a  speech  to  her 
own  ear :  she  had  not  considered,  before  this  wonder  came, 
that  her  life  was  hell.  She  had  been  a  very  powerful  person 
in  her  way  and  liked  it  more  than  being  a  nobody  in  a 
better  way,  which  does  not  say  that  her  heart  had  not 
been  touched.  She  was  humbly,  fearfully  in  love ;  she  was 
stunned  by  her  boy's  trustfulness  and  awful  ignorance. 

"  I  shall  die  of  his  knowing  it !  but  I  can't  say  now 
that  I  have  n't  had  my  chance  equal  to  any  woman,  ex- 
cept—  "  It  crossed  her  mind  with  a  shudder,  —  if  it  should 
come  to  marriage,  —  Parson  Yardley's  dreadful  words  : 
"  No  '  pleasant  vessel,'  no  '  vessel  of  desire '  shall  hold  the 
sacred  offering." 

"  But  I  need  not  have  a  child."  That  was  beyond  her 
daring,  or,  indeed,  her  wish.  "  I  will  not  have  children ; 
children  lay  you  open  on  every  side.  No  one  has  any  life 
of  her  own  or  any  safety  who  has  a  child." 

So  she  arranged  the  future,  taking  Nature's  springtime 
flattery  for  the  tale  of  the  whole  year.  Yet,  she  had  known 
the  tricky  old  mother  in  her  bitter  mood  of  consequences. 

What  she  was  truly  sick  of  were  those  base  alloys,  old 
issues  unclean,  defaced  with  use  which  she  had  played  with 
as  specimens  of  men.  Here  was  unstamped  metal  put  in 
her  hands  to  spend,  and  she  had  not  been  accustomed  to 
save  or  to  spare.  But  a  superstitious  fear  pursued  her  that 
if  she  held  back  the  truth  now  some  dreadful  woe  would 
come  of  it.  She  took  her  courage  finally  in  both  hands, 
and  told  him  an  incident  quite  sufficient  to  enlighten  any 
man  not  a  Pelleas. 

"  The  boys  were  passing  the  hat,  one  night  .  .  ."  she 


390  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

mentioned  where  and  paused  to  see  if  he  knew  the  place ; 
he  did,  as  a  spectator.  "  They  were  making  up  a  purse 
for  the  widow  and  the  kids  of  a  man  who  went  broke  and 
shot  himself  there,  the  night  before.  I  wasn't  in  funds  just 
then,  so  I  drew  on  the  bank  —  a  woman's  bank.  Some  one 
helped  me  to  cut  off  a  curl ;  I  picked  out  a  good  long  one ; 
I  wasn't  mean  .  .  ."  she  hurried  on  recklessly;  now  that 
she  was  launched,  she  entered  into  the  excitement  of  her 
own  daring.  "  He  doubled  it —  so  —  over  his  bowie-knife, 
close  to  my  head  —  ugh !  It  did  n't  pull,  but  I  heard  it 
grind.  Then  he  helped  me  up  on  the  table  where  I  might 
have  waded  in  gold.  I  pushed  the  stuff  away  with  my  feet 
and  I  showed  them  my  gold.  '  Here,'  I  said, '  boys,  is  what 
came  from  "  dust."  It  will  sure  be  dust  again  if  you  don't 
save  it ;  I  can't  use  it  any  more.  Put  it  into  charity  for 
your  sins.  If  you  let  this  little  bit  of  me  go  cheap,  I  will 
burn  it  here  before  you.  You  know  I  'm  not  cheap ! '  The 
bids  were  fairly  howled.  I  thought  they  'd  tear  me  off  the 
table." 

She  gave  one  long  hard  sigh.  The  boy  was  breaking 
pine  straws  into  bits  (they  were  sitting  out  in  the  woods) ; 
as  fast  as  one  needle  was  used  up  he  began  upon  another. 
She  waited,  and  added,  pleading  — 

"  What  do  you  think  it  brought  ?  The  widow  went  East 
and  bought  a  house  and  farm,  and  her  children  go  to 
school.  I've  kept  track  of  my  curl."  Still  no  word  from 
her  listener.  "  But,  oh,  laddie  lad  !  I'm  glad  you  weren't 
there." 

"  So  am  I,"  said  the  white-faced  boy. 

"  You  would  n't  have  stood  a  show ;  and  I  would  n't 
have  seen  you  go  broke  for  one  curl,  when  you  might  have 
had  the  whole  garden  where  they  grow !  " 


THE  GREATEST  GAMBLE   OF  ALL    391 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  he,  looking  up  at  last,  "  I  would 
have  touched  a  hair  of  that  curl,  to  save  it  from  hell  fire  ?" 
There  was  a  change  in  his  voice.  Her  own  voice  froze  to 
match  it.  They  stared  into  each  other's  dreary  eyes. 

"  Oh ;  and  the  Garden,  perhaps  .  .  .  ?  (I  have  done  it 
now,  and  being  good  is  no  use,'*  she  thought.  "  Fate  is 
worse  than  God ;  it  laughs  when  it  has  killed  you.") 

"  Everybody  knows  the  price  of  those  Gardens  .  .  ."  he 
measured  his  words  with  great  urging  breaths,  as  if  his 
heart  were  expiring.  "  In  my  family  we  don't  ask  the 
price.  There  are  men,  I  believe,  who  think  they  can  have 
love  cheaper  than  by  marriage :  they  are  welcome.  When 
I  come  into  my  Garden  .  .  ."  He  gathered  breath  again. 
"  Oh,  don't  you  understand !  There  is  not  a  hair  of  your 
head  that  is  n't  sacred  to  me  in  the  very  sight  of  God, 
except  those  you  cast  before  swine." 

He  took  her  hands  and  laid  his  face  in  them  and  she, 
weeping  like  a  real  Magdalen,  kissed  the  bended  head. 
Truth  lay  bare  between  them  and  he  was  only  paying  the 
first  instalment  of  the  price. 

He  did  not  die  nor  back  out,  as  he  would  have  called 
it.  He  had  power  left  to  think  (as  he  called  it,  too),  but 
he  had  drunk  the  cup  of  witchcraft  and  its  madness  was 
in  his  blood,  which  was  the  blood  of  gamblers,  like  her 
own.  There  are  many  sorts  of  stakes  :  his  race  had  prob- 
ably gambled  for  them  all.  We  generalize  in  a  case  like 
this  out  of  charity  to  the  individual. 

It  took  him  some  three  nights  to  do  his  alleged  think- 
ing. On  the  day  before  the  third,  his  partner  came  home, 
having  had  speech  with  men  in  the  streets  of  Downie- 
ville. 

"  Who  do  you  suppose  she  is,  our  little  ground-dove 


392  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

up  there  at  Zapato's  ?  Awful  joke  on  good  little  boys — so 
careful  not  to  intrude !  Say,  kid,  she's  Cassie  Clayton  !  " 

The  boy  got  up  and  went  out ;  he  did  not  blame  his 
partner  and  he  could  not  fight  every  man  who  knew  his 
lady's  past. 

The  week  after,  a  couple  rode  to  Downieville,  camping 
overnight  in  the  dark  woods,  for  the  moon  now  was  old, 
and  were  married  next  day  before  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
A  crowd  of  starers  watched  them  ride  away  man  and 
wife,  on  the  supreme  adventure.  He  gave  his  age  —  all 
he  could  give  —  twenty- four  ;  she  placed  hers  at  twenty- 
six.  He  believed  her  and  in  a  sense  it  was  true  :  happi- 
ness had  taken  five  years  from  her  appearance  and  many 
more  from  her  heart,  by  this  lesson  of  faith.  She  defied 
memory  even,  at  the  boy's  request,  and  was  married  under 
her  own  name.  He  was  bold  enough  to  call  her  his  life's 
star. 

They  rode  away  to  his  new  claim,  and  Senor  Zapato 
followed  them  with  a  couple  of  pack-mules  loaded  with 
their  equipment  for  a  summer  in  camp.  In  the  intervals 
of  prospecting,  the  man  who  was  a  boy  in  spring  would 
build  a  winter  hut  for  his  woman.  They  had  decided  to 
begin  as  the  world  began  and  do  without  the  rest  of 
humanity  that  had  accumulated  since,  to  no  end  that 
seemed  just  then  to  concern  them. 

"  That  may  do,"  said  the  old  senora,  "  till  a  child  is 
coming."  She  was  deep  in  Nature's  confidence. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  GRAVES 

THE  idyll  lasted,  as  the  senora  had  said,  till  flowering 
time  was  over  and  summer  seeds  were  ripening  on  the 
withered  hillsides.  The  wild  sunflower's  glow  had  passed 
from  the  gulches ;  only  dry,  coarse  leaves  were  left  curl- 
ing in  the  sun.  Most  of  the  spring's  delicate  virgins  had 
disappeared,  blossom  and  stalk,  shrivelled  back  into  the 
earth.  There  were  cool,  autumnal  mornings  and  shivering 
nights  of  frost  in  the  mountain  valleys,  and  troops  of 
vagrant  little  butterflies  flittered  in  sunny  spots  of  the 
forest  trails  through  the  short,  still  afternoons. 

The  woman  lay  in  her  blankets  all  day  and  refused  to 
eat  or  to  do  anything  towards  the  man's  eating,  who 
digged  and  delved  without  complaint,  in  words.  He  had 
never  been  sick  himself  as  she  was,  and  it  seemed  to  him 
that  she  made  too  little  effort  for  her  own  good  and  for 
other  reasons  usually  thought  to  be  paramount.  He  pos- 
sessed, under  his  capacity  for  high  stakes,  a  fund  of  com- 
mon knowledge  such  as  men  acquire  from  living  on  their 
own  land,  amidst  animals  and  chattels  valued  as  such.  He 
felt  that  he  was  part  owner  in  this  case,  but  he  was  a  gentle- 
man, also,  of  his  breed;  he  could  not  urge  his  wife  to  use 
her  hands  or  feet,  even  to  save  her  soul.  There  was  no 
spur  now,  in  the  head  nor  of  the  heel ;  the  woman's  case 
was  in  her  own  hands,  —  and  the  boy's  case  and  that  of 
their  future  offspring.  He  did  not  share  her  feeling  as  to 
children,  —  not  yet. 


394  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

But  the  prospects  failed ;  there  was  no  water  left  for 
washing  gravel.  The  cabin  itself  was  of  no  more  use  if 
the  woman  could  not  exist  in  it  and  eat  the  food  camp- 
life  gives.  Wild  meat,  tiresome  trout,  strong-flavored 
honey  on  soda  bread,  smoky  camp-stews  and  bitter  camp- 
coffee  :  these  were  the  abomination  of  desolation  to  her 
sick  appetite,  and  appetite  weighed  with  her  now  more 
than  the  love  or  respect  of  man.  She  was  famished  and 
she  could  not  eat,  and  so  she  begged  for  the  old  stimu- 
lants which  she  had  renounced  sitting  on  his  knees  and 
weeping  on  his  breast.  How  could  he  deny  her  ?  He  was 
firm,  however,  on  the  question  of  drugs.  So,  when  want 
of  exercise  and  toothache  and  hunger  kept  her  awake  at 
night,  she  would  steal  from  his  side  and  help  herself  to  the 
relief  he  refused  her  —  out  of  a  store  that  she  kept  hidden 
from  his  heart-sick,  contemptuous  vigilance,  and  he  left 
her  in  the  mornings  a  dead  log.  Lying  thus  one  day  when 
he  was  at  his  poor-paid  diggings,  a  sluice-robber  who  had 
watched  their  camp  sneaked  in  and  stole  the  boy's  little 
hoard,  saved  up  against  troubles  to  come. 

So  the  struggle  ended ;  and  they  went  back  to  bondage 
for  the  sake  of  the  flesh-pots.  The  woman  had  friends 
enough  to  welcome  her  who  would  have  shared  their  pots 
and  she  was  disposed  to  dip  in  freely  and  say  nothing,  — 
neither  pay.  She  took  pride  in  getting  without  the  cus- 
tomary return.  Innes  never  questioned  her,  but  her  vir- 
tuous explanations  were  hard  to  bear. 

He  had  no  profession  or  aptitude  for  any  special  work ; 
he  had  been  bred  on  the  theory  that  ownership  was  to 
be  his  part  in  the  social  economy,  but  he  knew  horses. 
In  course  of  a  month  or  two,  he  found  himself  driving 
stage  on  the  San  Jos£  line.  It  kept  him  away  from  her  a 


THE  GKAVES  395 


good  deal  and  gave  him  time  for  more  thinking.  She  had 
promised  to  forsake  cards  among  her  other  abstentions, 
but  he  knew  that  she  gambled  regularly  with  what  little 
money  he  could  give  her,  in  the  hope  of  "  helping  along  "; 
she  made  it  a  virtue  of  necessity.  When  his  money  was 
gone,  her  friends  lent  her  the  stakes,  and  if  she  won  they 
paid,  and  if  she  lost  they  waited  in  equal  good  part,  know- 
ing she  would  never  pay.  Poor  girl!  she  had  done  for 
herself.  They  pitied  her  forlorn  experiment. 

Innes  they  laughed  at  and  despised.  He  had  strolled 
through  the  city,  as  they  remembered  him,  looking  on  with 
his  hands  in  his  pockets,  —  a  "  cool  little  cuss ;  thought 
he  was  stronger  than  the  game."  He  had  got  out  with 
most  of  his  senses  and  his  money  intact.  "  Now  he 's  in 
double  harness  with  Cassie  Clayton!  He  can't  pay  for 
her  shoe-strings ;  but  if  you  go  in  there  and  make  free, 
she  '11  stick  that  wedding-ring  in  your  face.  That 's  what 
she 's  vain  of." 

She  wore  frocks  which  Innes  knew  he  never  paid  for. 
When  his  eyes  brooded  upon  her,  she  tried  to  guess  his 
thoughts.  Confessions  as  to  cards  and  their  results  poured 
from  her,  lest  he  should  accuse  her  of  worse.  He  never 
did.  He  knew  that  she  adored  him  still  and  feared  him,  but 
as  she  feared  nothing  else,  his  power  could  not  last ;  it  was 
already  gone. 

There  came  a  day  when  he  saw  as  in  a  terrific  vision 
what  ultimately  lay  before  them.  One  of  his  passengers 
on  the  incoming  stage  was  a  woman,  once  handsome  and 
still  young.  She  had  with  her  a  scabby  babe  about  two 
months  old.  Both  were  filthy  and  the  woman  was  delirious 
drunk.  She  slept  at  last  on  the  bottom  of  the  coach,  her 
dishevelled  head  rocking  against  some  man's  knee.  The 


396  A   PICKED   COMPANY 

other  passengers  were  all  men.  They  did  what  such  men 
could  for  the  wretched  babe,  jeering  at  one  another  as  it 
was  mauled  from  hand  to  hand.  When  its  cries  of  hunger 
grew  unbearable  they  roused  the  woman  and  forced  her 
with  oaths  to  feed  her  offspring,  supporting  her  and  guid- 
ing her  dulled  instincts  in  the  maternal  office. 

Innes,  on  the  driver's  seat,  took  one  look  at  the  scene 
inside.  What  it  said  to  his  new  experience  of  life  may  be 
imagined;  he  had  the  beginnings  of  it  in  his  home.  It 
must  have  cut  through  all  defences  to  the  knowledge  that 
is  without  hope.  We  are  trying  to  account  for  what  he 
did  a  few  hours  afterwards. 

He  had  stopped  in  the  street  on  his  way  for  a  drink  of 
brandy,  feeling  physically  undone.  It  was  his  first  breach 
of  a  pledge  he  had  given  his  mother,  because  he  knew  her 
reason  for  imploring  it.  It  had  been  nothing  to  him, 
except  the  foolishness  of  his  being  supposed  to  need  it, 
to  give  it  then.  It  was  less  than  nothing  now,  that  he 
should  break  it. 

At  the  foot  of  the  dirty  stairs  going  up  to  the  dirtier 
rooms  he  called  home,  he  waited  for  a  man  who  was  com- 
ing down.  He  knew  it  must  be  one  of  his  wife's  former 
friends,  for  Mike  was  with  him  cluttering  down  the  stairs. 
The  men  were  forced  to  stop  and  exchange  a  civil  word 
while  Mike  greeted  his  old  acquaintance  from  the  country. 
Mike's  master  had  reclaimed  him  months  ago ;  he  was  a 
gambler  of  sorts,  formerly  Mistress  Boy's  platonic  adviser. 
He  could  not  afford  to  take  ladies  of  her  profession  seri- 
ously, having  serious  aims  of  his  own  in  a  profession  that 
is  understood  to  be  foreign  to  the  emotions.  As  they 
parted,  Innes  observed  Mike's  master  smile  sarcastically 
under  his  waxed  mustache. 


THE   GEAVES  397 


His  wife's  pretty  head  of  fair  gold  hair  looked  just  as 
charming  to  him  as  ever,  when  he  opened  the  door  and 
saw  her  back.  She  was  seated  at  a  table.  He  fancied  that 
she  gave  a  little  start,  but  she  did  not  turn  or  rise. 

"  If  I  find  her  so  again  .  .  .  !  "  he  had  vowed,  when  he 
drank  to  keep  his  strength  up.  He  went  around  the  table 
to  speak  to  her,  and  he  saw  at  a  glance  that  he  must  now 
either  keep,  or  break,  that  vow.  "  I  shall  never  have  more 
courage  ..."  He  thought  of  the  woman  and  child  on 
the  bottom  of  the  stage. 

She  put  up  both  arms  languidly  in  their  full,  laced  sleeves, 
to  clasp  his  neck,  turning  her  head  away ;  she  was  con- 
scious, yet  befooled.  If  she  did  not  speak  or  let  him  kiss 
her  lips  she  fancied  he  would  not  know  that  she  had  "  taken 
anything,"  though  it  was  too  late  to  put  away  the  wine 
and  whiskey  before  her.  The  friend  of  course  had  had  some- 
thing. Cigar  ashes  were  scattered  on  the  table;  with  one 
forefinger  she  puddled  them  into  a  little  blot  of  spilled 
wine,  intently,  like  a  child  making  mud-pies.  The  front 
breadth  of  her  flounced  silk  dress  was  turned  up  over  her 
lap,  he  noticed,  as  if  to  hide  something  which  apparently 
she  forgot,  for  when  she  rose  her  skirt  fell  and  the  secret 
exposed  itself,  rolling  and  clinking  over  the  floor,  quite 
a  "  pile  "  — not  his,  nor  hers :  the  philosophic  friend's,  no 
doubt.  Innes  was  free  from  any  unphilosophic  soreness  on 
that  score.  He  had  been  hungry,  but  he  no  longer  felt 
that  either.  At  the  opposite  end  of  the  table  he  made 
room  for  ink  and  paper  and  began  to  write.  He  wrote  fast, 
while  she  groped  about  the  floor  recovering  her  scattered 
spoils  of  friendship.  Her  movements  it  were  a  shame  to 
watch.  He  kept  his  eyes  on  his  writing. 

She  was  conscious  of  him,  conscious  of  something  wrong 


398  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

in  herself  which  she  began  to  exculpate,  stammering  ex- 
cuses that  were  too  foolish  to  call  lies.  The  money  was  an 
old  bet  her  professional  friend  had  owed  her  since  last 
year,  before  she  went  up  to  Paradise  Valley.  ("  Paradish," 
she  called  it.)  Her  friend  had  found  the  place  and  sent 
her  there,  when  she  was  so  sick ;  Innes  might  infer,  as 
another  irony  of  the  game,  that  this  useful  friend  had  in 
effect  made  the  match,  the  idyll  of  Paradise  Valley. 

There  was  no  answer,  and  her  temper  rose.  Why  should 
she  talk  (with  such  difficulty)  and  all  for  nothing  ?  She 
threw  herself  upon  him,  clutching  his  shoulder  for  support, 
and  snatched  at  the  pen. 

"  Go  in  there,"  he  said  in  a  voice  she  feared :  he  opened 
the  bedroom  door,  holding  his  writing  out  of  reach.  It 
ended  in  his  taking  her,  and  laying  her  weeping  on  the 
bed. 

It  was  a  disgraceful,  a  tawdry  room,  but  he  was  grown 
used  to  it.  It  was  scented  with  her  soiled  clothing  and 
stale  perfumes,  and  with  anonymous  cigar-smoke  which 
however  improved  the  air.  It  did  not  concern  him.  He 
was  too  deeply  seared  to  feel  such  pricks.  His  mind 
endeavored  to  clear  itself  from  all  lesser  shames  with  a 
last  effort  to  be  just.  Careless  familiarities  from  other 
men  he  could  not  count  against  her  having  known  what 
he  knew :  nothing  but  what  was  blameworthy  in  her  own 
eyes.  His  wife's  friends  were  good-natured,  when  they 
were  flush ;  she  was  become  an  object  of  common  com- 
miseration and  off-hand  charity  to  those  whom  he  had 
called  swine. 

An  hour  later  the  crowd  that  filled  the  room  and  blocked 
the  stairs  from  the  street,  did  not  pause  to  observe  a  sheet 
of  writing  on  the  table  weighted  down  by  a  little  heap  of 


THE  GRAVES  399 


coin,  as  if  trusting  that  the  gold  would  call  attention  to 
what  lay  beneath.  The  spectacle  that  drew  was  in  the  bed- 
room, where  the  fool  lay  martyred  in  his  folly  with  his  vic- 
tim and  conqueror  by  his  side.  He  had  died  first  and  his 
death  had  sobered  her :  as  Jimmy  said,  "  When  your  heart 
does  break,  you  will  not  talk."  She  died  with  his  head  in 
her  lap  which  was  soaked  with  his  blood,  and  she  uttered 
no  complaint. 

An  improvised  investigation  which  cleared  the  rooms 
took  cognizance  of  the  fool's  death  testimony.  It  was 
addressed :  — 

To  whom  it  may  concern :  — 

I  married  this  woman  by  whose  side  I  soon  shall  end 
my  troubles,  because  we  loved  each  other,  and  we  were 
mad  enough  to  think  that  love  is  the  whole  of  marriage. 
I  loved  her  too  respectfully  to  want  her  any  other  way, 
and  I  believed  that  by  honoring  her  to  the  utmost  in  my 
power,  she  would  be  able  to  honor  herself  in  spite  of  her 
past.  With  what  she  has  not  killed  in  me  I  love  her  still, 
but  our  married  life  is  a  scandal.  I  still  believe  in  love, 
but  there  are  some  things  it  cannot  alter.  Fathers  and 
mothers  know  that,  and  why  not  husbands  and  wives  ? 

She  had  been  drinking  and  so  had  I.  I  have  a  father 
at  home  who  wanders  about  the  house  a  harmless  spectre. 
He  is  not  old,  but  his  mind  is  gone  through  drink,  as  mine 
will  go  if  I  begin,  and  what 's  to  prevent  me  ?  I  don't  do 
this  in  anger  or  through  jealousy.  I  believe  my  poor  wife 
has  been  "  faithful,"  as  it  is  called  in  marriage,  though 
she  could  not  be  faithful  in  anything  else.  Still,  I  knew 
her  past,  and  when  a  man  commits  a  crime  against  society 
he  ought  to  take  the  consequences  of  his  act.  The  trouble 


400  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

is,  there  are  some  consequences  he  can't  take,  nor  see  the 
end  of.  She  is  going  to  have  a  child.  God  only  knows  what 
she  would  do  with  it,  or  what  the  child  might  do  if  it  should 
live  to  grow  up.  I  saw  a  mother  to-day  who  is  what  she 
will  be  a  few  years  hence.  I  may  be  no  better.  So  this 
madness  must  stop  .  .  . 

It  stopped,  in  the  bedroom,  a  short  time  later. 

Few  women  of  Stella's  history  ever  brought  the  soul  test 
home  to  better  types  of  character,  men  and  women  ;  even  in 
death,  it  was  said,  she  sorted  out  the  city.  The  whited  sepul- 
chres in  silk  hats  and  frock  coats  were  there  in  numbers  at 
her  funeral,  but  where  they  had  been  bold  in  the  past  to  look 
at  that  beautiful  face,  they  were  troubled  now.  The  city 
was  changed  and  changing.  By  common  impulse  all  those 
respectable  citizens  in  white  shirt-fronts  avoided  mutual 
recognition.  They  passed  each  other  as  if  each  by  an  act 
of  will  had  been  rendered  invisible.  Some  of  them  would 
meet  that  evening  again  at  their  wives'  dinner-tables,  prac- 
tising the  discretion  of  bad  boys  under  the  eyes  of  un- 
suspicious parents.  Or,  would  these  be  the  ghosts  —  of 
men  who  had  departed  this  life  of  the  spirit,  and  were  go- 
ing about  in  the  flesh,  never  suspecting  their  own  demise  ? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A   WEDDING-GIFT   DELAYED 

THE  following  chapter  was  purposely  held  back  in  order 
to  give  our  settlers  the  last  word,  which  surely  belongs  to 
them  in  this  story,  and  we  think  that  the  builders  will 
always  have  the  last  word  in  any  true  story  or  one  that 
pretends  to  be  true,  —  though  the  gamblers  shall  be  there, 
foremost  in  every  race  for  achievement  or  possession: 
they  run  as  torch-bearers,  and  end  as  incendiaries  who 
perish  in  their  own  fires. 

We  return  then  to  the  common  chord,  our  "  resting- 
place  in  this  life."  It  is  September;  before  the  winter 
of  the  Whitman  massacre  and  before  the  discovery  of 
gold  at  Butter's  Mill.  Mr.  Yardley  is  pacing  about  in 
front  of  the  wagon-shed,  watching  his  son  perform  a  task 
which  commands  the  minister's  respect  because  he  would 
have  exceedingly  disliked  it  himself.  Jimmy  is  greasing 
his  road-wagon  for  a  trip  to  Champoeg.  We  suppose 
there  was  not  such  a  thing  as  a  jack-screw  in  Oregon  at 
that  time,  but  much  may  be  done  with  patience  and  a 
crow-bar  and  a  stick  of  wood  the  right  height  to  prop  an 
axle. 

"Now,  son,"  the  parson  resumes  a  suspended  argu- 
ment with  spirit,  "don't  flinch  at  the  price.  Make  it 
twenty-five,  no  matter  what  Lewelling  holds  them  at." 

"  He  will  hold  them  high,"  said  Jimmy,  wiping  his 
fingers  before  putting  away  the  grease-pot.  "  You  won't 
get  one  of  those  trees  for  less  than  five  dollars,  coin." 

"  Let  it  be  five  —  or  ten  !   This  is  my  present  to  Barbara. 


402  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

And  every  tree  will  be  worth  a  field  of  oats,  yearly,  in  less 
than  five  years'  time." 

Jimmy  laughed  at  the  enthusiasm  of  the  amateur.  His 
father  had  brought  to  these  new  outside  interests  all  the 
concentrated  fervor  of  his  cloistered  mind. 

The  road  team,  in  harness  hitched  to  a  tree,  swung 
their  heads  around  at  the  rustle  of  straw.  "  Nothing  in 
your  line,  old  chaps,"  said  Jimmy,  bedding  down  the 
bottom  of  his  wagon-box ;  he  went  back  to  the  barn  for 
an  armful  of  old  sacking  which  he  crowded  in  upon  the 
straw. 

"Take  plenty,"  his  father  urged.  "It's  coming  off 
hot."  He  cast  a  watery  eye  upwards  at  the  sun's  progress 
back  of  the  slow,  September  fog.  "Think  you've  got 
plenty  of  that  sacking  ?  you  don't  want  to  let  their  roots 
get  dry."  Jimmy  did  not  answer. 

"Now  make  it  twenty-five  —  not  a  tree  less!  Call  it 
Barbie's  silver  tea-set.  I  never  gave  either  of  you  a  suita- 
ble wedding-present  that  I  remember." 

"Well,  father,  you  married  us!  I  never  gave  you  a 
suitable  fee,  did  I  ?  It  is  n't  a  question  of  tea-sets.  How- 
ever, if  you  insist,  I  can't  say  she  would  n't  rather  have 
a  young  orchard  than  almost  anything  you  could  give 
her." 

"  That  settles  it,  then !  "  The  minister's  face  relaxed. 
"  Twenty-five  trees  will  just  about  set  out  that  southwest 
slope,  under  your  bedroom  windows.  Mr.  Hannington 
thinks  that  will  be  the  place  for  them." 

"  Oho!  so  you've  been  and  talked  to  father  Hannington? 
Well,  I  guess  Barbie  knows  all  about  it  by  this  time.  I 
asked  her  what  I  should  bring  her  from  the  Falls :  she 
generally  says  a  diamond  necklace  or  a  set  of  sables !  This 


A  WEDDING-GIFT  DELAYED         403 

morning  she  sort  o'  twinkled  at  me:  —  *A  big  red 
apple ' ! " 

"  No !  "  cried  Mr  Yardley,  beaming  ;  these  jokes  on  the 
grandfathers  were  a  matter  of  course,  but  Barbara's  an- 
swer pleased  him  almost  to  tears ;  he  repeated  it  childishly. 
"'A  big  red  apple'!" 

"  'Scuse  me,  father :  did  you  happen  to  see  where  I  put 
my  coat  just  now?  Ah!"  The  coat  was  recovered  and 
given  a  good  shaking  to  windward,  folded  and  laid  across 
the  wagon-seat.  The  parson  sneezed.  But  nobody  could 
interrupt  him.  He  was  accustomed  to  keep  the  thread  of 
his  own  discourse  through  the  hum  of  family  distractions, 
much  as  an  old  clock  with  a  last  century  strike  intones 
the  hour  reflectively  over  the  heads  of  a  chattering  gener- 
ation. 

"  I  have  noticed  Barbara's  cravings  are  always  healthy 
ones.  There 's  virtue  in  the  apple !  I  believe  the  apple- 
eating  habit  has  helped  preserve  our  race  in  New  Eng- 
land— " 

"  —  From  the  pie  and  the  preaching  habit,"  Jimmy 
threw  in  casually.  He  was  in  rude  spirits,  impatient  to  set 
off.  "  Must  go  now  and  say  good-bye  to  the  lady  of  the 
house.  Will  you  take  in  that  broom,  Dad,  after  I  'm  gone  ? 
it's  one  of  her  good  ones ;  I  stole  it  for  a  purpose.  Brooms 
are  Barbie's  pet  economy  —  do  you  think  it 's  a  healthy 
craving  in  a  full-grown  woman  ?  " 

Mr.  Yardley  smiled,  indulgent  of  his  son's  nonsense. 
He  forgot  all  about  the  broom.  He  and  a  brace  of  hens 
wandering  about  whom  he  knew  by  sight  and  knew  to  be 
hens  of  no  character,  having  fed  their  neglected  offspring, 
had  the  silence  of  the  sunny  place  to  themselves.  He 
enjoyed  an  acquaintance  with  all  the  farm  creatures  now, 


404  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

remarked  their  habits,  drew  analogies  from  them  and  felt 
the  kindly  influence  of  their  dependence  on  man.  Many 
little  sides  of  life  he  had  been  wont  to  pass  over  in  ab- 
straction won  his  smiles  in  these  days.  It  was  part  of  a 
general  unreefing  and  shaking  out  of  sails,  like  the  broaden- 
ing of  his  scholarly  hands  through  garden  practice  with  a 
spade,  and  his  fresher  color  and  livelier  eye.  He  had  lost  the 
housebound  look.  Barbara's  children  helped  him,  too,  as 
they  grew  and  cut  their  teeth  and  crushed  his  heart  with 
their  mysterious  little  ailments  and  learned  to  walk  and  to 
call  him  "  Gan  "  and  "  Ganfa-a-!  "  with  long-vowelled  sweet- 
ness. He  smiled  ten  times  a  day  where  he  used  to  smile 
once,  and  his  Sabbath  texts  were  chosen  from  a  need  to 
speak  lovingly  and  hopefully  to  his  young  church  in  the 
wilderness.  He  was  pondering,  now,  something  sweet  to 
say  to  Barbara  —  out  of  the  Scriptures,  of  course  —  when 
her  little  fruit-trees  should  arrive  at  the  door  with  the 
earth  of  home  still  clinging  to  their  roots. 

He  thought  of  her  good,  dear  mother,  asleep  on  the  hill; 
a  familiar  way  of  putting  it  —  not  true  to  her  memory, 
though,  his  old  friend  with  the  big  warm  hand.  She  was 
not  up  there  quiescent,  nor  down  here  querulous  and 
weak  as  that  last  summer  when  she  had  begun  to  "  fail." 
She  was  cosmic.  The  Bible  alone  has  expressions  for  that 
sort  of  nature-woman. 

"  I  raised  thee  up  under  the  apple-tree ;  there  thy 
mother  brought  thee  forth ;  there  she  brought  thee  forth 
that  bare  thee."  It  was  a  misapplication  of  the  text,  to  be 
exact ;  but  Mr.  Yardley  used  even  his  Bible  now  more  hu- 
manly. The  tender,  dove-voiced  repetitions  moved  him  to 
think  of  willow  copses  full  of  nests  in  foldings  of  the 
old  New  England  hills ;  memories  stirred  within  him  of 


A  WEDDING-GIFT  DELAYED         405 

certain  long  spring  twilights  with  a  slender  moon,  that 
call  young  folk  out  of  doors  and  make  old  ones  loath  to 
go  in  and  light  a  fire,  though  none  are  left  to  share  them 
with. 

To  understand  the  good  man's  mood  —  why  his  heart 
should  melt  into  poetry  and  break  into  song  over  twenty- 
five  little  sticks  of  fruit-trees  not  yet  in  the  ground  (nor 
paid  for)  —  it  should  be  counted  how  few  their  homely 
kindred  were,  west  of  the  Cascade  range,  in  1847.  Squaw- 
berries  grew  on  the  mountain,  wild  plums  were  had  for 
the  price  of  gathering,  wild-grape  blossoms  and  wild 
strawberries  scented  the  rich  air:  these  belonged  to  the 
camper,  the  mover-on,  the  Indians.  When  a  man  sets  out 
an  orchard  in  a  new  land  he  plants  for  his  children's  child- 
ren ;  that  soil  is  his  home,  and  the  fate  of  Oregon's  homes 
had  now  become  a  national  question.  The  South  had  been 
fighting  the  Oregon  Bill  in  Congress,  step  by  step :  it 
contained  an  anti-slavery  clause  highly  offensive  to  South- 
ern sentiments  at  that  time.  The  North,  equally  deter- 
mined, did  not  wait  to  win  the  fight  in  Congress.  She  sent 
men  of  brains  and  character,  who  moved  their  families  out 
there,  on  the  ground,  making  the  venture  a  species  of 
crusade.  They  were  helping  to  anchor  the  future  State 
in  principles  of  a  nation's  faith  as  dear  to  them  as  their 
fathers'  religion ;  they  were  the  next  generation  of  "  fish- 
ers and  choppers  and  ploughmen  "  who  "  shall  constitute 
a  State." 

"  Lo,  I  uncover  the  land 
Which  I  hid  of  old  time  in  the  West." 

Here  was  a  new  "  Columbia  of  the  Rocks  which  dip  their 
foot  in  the  seas."  The  great  pathway  had  been  cut  from 
ocean  to  ocean;  toil  of  countless  feet  of  men  and  cattle 


406  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

with  sweat  and  blood  had  worn  it  wider,  every  year.  This 
was  the  year  before  the  feet  branched  off  and  sons  of 
the  Trail  were  bearing  southward  with  a  new  hunger  in 
their  bones. 

That  summer's  emigration  brought  out  five  thousand  per- 
sons, mostly  dreamers:  —  builders  for  the  Northwest, 
gamblers  for  California.  This  is  a  loose  classification.  We 
have  already  told  how  one  fair,  average  fellow  (builder  and 
gambler  too)  went  off  at  the  first  call,  but  did  not  sell 
his  home ;  went  for  the  larger  fun  and  the  chances,  hold- 
ing himself  ready  to  go  back  into  harness  again  and  pull 
a  plough  or  drag  a  harrow,  if  he  failed  to  get  a  lead  in  the 
race. 

But  the  dreamers  do  things,  although  they  suffer,  so 
we  say,  and  their  joys  are  incommunicable  like  the  joys 
of  childhood.  Among  those  who  dreamed  to  some  purpose 
in  that  summer's  caravan,  first  place  should  be  given  to 
Henderson  Lewelling.  With  untold  care  he  brought  across 
the  plains  his  Travelling  Nursery,  the  greatest  contribu- 
tion Oregon  ever  received  from  one  man : — seven  hundred 
young  fruit-trees  and  shrubs  planted  in  wagon-beds. 
Homely,  delightful  inspiration!  Worthy  of  Benjamin 
Franklin.  Where  is  there  a  stroke  of  genius  that  has  not 
in  it  the  directness  and  the  unconsciousness  of  the  soil? 
They  came  with  the  rest  of  the  pioneer  babies,  rocked  in 
those  continental  cradles  of  our  race,  curtains  over  their 
heads  when  the  desert  sun  burned  too  strong,  fed  from 
every  wild  brook  and  river  that  flows  east  or  west  from 
the  three  great  divides,  and  always  safe-rooted  in  the  earth 
of  home. 

Eyes  must  have  watered  (and  mouths,  too)  as  the  pen- 
cilled pine  labels  were  read,  attached  to  each  little  graft- 


A  WEDDING-GIFT  DELAYED         407 

ling's  stein,  giving  its  native  State,  its  foundation  soil, 
its  name  and  pedigree.  Now  these  were  the  forbears  of  all 
the  great  orchards  of  Oregon  :  "Rhode  Island  Greening," 
"Newtown  Pippin,"  "Northern  Spy,"  "  Spitzenberg," 
from  old  Esopus,  "  The  King,"  bless  you !  "  of  Tompkins 
County."  The  "  Jonathan  "  apple,  aha !  (but  was  he  born 
then?)  Russets  and  Belleflowers  and  Pearmains,  and 
Winesaps,  perhaps :  we  don't  know  if  he  was  born  either, 
in  1847.  But  all  the  best  families  of  the  orchard  aris- 
tocracy were  there,  although  it  was  a  Northern  propa- 
ganda. In  each  of  these  little  wands  no  bigger  than  a  man's 
thumb,  some  old  parent  State  sent  a  little  of  the  sap  from 
her  own  veins  to  build  up  the  blood  of  the  Northwest. 

There  was  a  fury  of  participation  in  Lewelling's  great 
idea.  Farmers  must  have  driven  for  days  to  buy  treelings 
at  a  price  they  dared  not  tell  their  wives.  Jimmy  Yardley 
thought  himself  quite  abreast  of  the  times,  deciding  for 
one  dozen,  when  his  father  made  it  two,  and  one  over 
for  luck,  and  called  it  Barbara's  tea-set. 

"  Yes, "  he  mused,  "  I  shall  tell  her  that  she  herself  is 
like  *  a  young  apple-tree  among  the  trees  of  the  wood.'  She 
won't  remember  it  was  written  in  praise  of  '  my  beloved 
among  the  sons ' ! "  said  the  cunning  parson,  with  apol- 
ogies to  Solomon.  "  Surely  the  apple-tree  is  in  every  sense 
feminine :  in  her  beauty  as  she  stands  covered  with  flowers 
in  spring  like  a  young  bride ;  in  her  abundance  in  autumn ; 
in  the  keeping  quality  of  her  gifts  that  we  can  store  them 
for  the  old  age  of  the  year;  in  her  modest  stature ;  in  her 
girth  and  her  stoop  as  she  grows  eld  in  burden-bearing, 
and  in  her  habitat  which  makes  her  the  peculiar  treasure 
of  homes ;  —  I  should  say  Northern  homes.  In  the  South, 
of  course,  she  has  her  rivals." 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   SAME   DAT 

"  WHAT  are  those  blessed  grandfathers  up  to  now !  " 
Barbara  spoke  aloud  in  sheer  astonishment.  No  one  could 
have  heard  her  except  her  eldest,  who  did  not  answer,  hav- 
ing no  interest  in  the  question  and  showing  it  with  the 
sang-froid  of  your  only  true  aristocrat.  She  is  three,  and 
her  name  is  not  "  Sister  "  nor  "  polly-my-lamb,"  nor 
"  Doodleums  "  nor  "  Piggsy-wigs,"  nor  any  of  the  foolish 
things  her  parents  call  her  to  avoid  her  real  name,  which 
is  Silence,  they  regret  to  say.  It  had  to  be  —  although 
there  never  can  be  another  Silence.  Barbie  feels  that,  and 
she  knows  Jimmy  does  not  like  the  name,  but  —  father ! 
He  was  so  wistful  and  humble  about  it.  It  just  had 
to  be. 

The  morning's  work  done  and  husband  well  on  his  way 
to  the  Falls  and  baby  having  his  long  after -bath-and- 
feeding  nap,  Barbara  has  taken  her  sewing  out  upon  the 
bench  under  her  bedroom  windows  where  the  house  shadow 
falls  ;  where  she  can  listen  to  baby  and  keep  little  sister 
reasonably  quiet  if  amused. 

The  sun  has  come  out  hot  as  Mr.  Yardley  predicted.  It 
shines  on  the  vest-backs  of  the  two  old  men,  coats  off  and 
waistcoats  unbuttoned,  who  follow  each  other's  steps  me- 
thodically in  silence  over  the  slope  of  autumn  grass.  One 
lays  down  a  sort  of  measuring-rod,  the  other  drives  in  a 
sort  of  stake ;  they  repeat  the  process  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  last  stake,  sighting  with  a  string.  It  looks  earnest 


THE   SAME   DAY  409 

though  not  strictly  technical ;  something  might  come  of 
it,  however.  Something  has  come  of  it :  an  Indian  in  a 
red  calico  shirt  is  digging  up  the  sod  where  no  one  who 
loves  the  mistress  of  this  house  would  dream  of  driving  a 
spade  unless  by  her  special  orders. 

"  For  goodness'  sake !  I  wonder  if  Jimmy  knows  about 
this?" 

"  Fo'  doo'ness'  sate !  "  the  lamb  recites,  without  lifting 
an  eyelash. 

There  is  a  feeling  of  general  distrust  in  Barbara's  mind 
whenever  the  grandfathers  get  to  work  in  Jimmy's  absence, 
unless  she  knows  that  Jimmy  does  know.  The  present  case 
is  no  exception.  "  What  in  the  world  are  those  old  Blesseds 
doing  down  there,  by  themselves,  and  who  set  them  at  it  ?  " 
She  rambles  down  to  see. 

The  grandfathers  are  not  communicative  :  they  are  in- 
deed rather  provoking.  They  behave  as  she  often  does 
when  busy  making  pies,  and  Polly-my-lamb  hangs  around 
asking  for  things  —  but  then ! 

Barbie  came  up  the  slope  quite  fast  with  a  flushed  face, 
and  saved  herself  from  my  lamb's  onset  almost  without  a 
smile  which  did  not  give  perfect  satisfaction  either. 

"  Mama  'peak  to  me,  'peak  to  me  !  " 

" Softly,  so/My!  'Wake  little  Brother !  " 

"  Sof 'y,  sooo-f 'y  ! "  came  the  fascinating  echo.  The  two 
sank  down,  laughing,  on  the  grass  together,  one  in  the 
other's  lap.  The  lamb  nestles  and  tries  to  suck  her  thumb ; 
is  prevented.  A  guilty  pause,  with  an  embarrassed  smile 
as  we  sit  up  again  and  pretend  that  we  don't  care. 

"  It  looks  like  setting  out  trees,  Doodl'ums.  It  certainly 
looks  that  way ;  and  we  've  only  just  got  rid  of  them ! 
Grass  is  so  nice,  and  the  sunsets  and  all!  They  can't  be 


410  A  PICKED   COMPANY 

going  to  plant  trees  all  over  my  beautiful  west  slope  as 
ever  was !  I  wonder  if  Jimmy  can  have  known !  " 

This  would  appear  to  be  the  nature  of  most  surprises 
prearranged  by  man  to  pleasure  his  women-folk:  with 
woman  in  general,  as  with  poets,  "  it  is  not  the  What  but 
the  How."  The  What  was  perfect,  but,  alas,  the  How ! 
And  Barbie's  own  father  had  done  it.  She  thanked  father 
Yardley  with  much  loving  grace,  for  his  wonderful  gift ; 
she  knew  how  to  do  that  sort  of  thing  —  or  even  to  overdo 
it.  And  she  was  able  to  put  a  tolerable  face  on  her  own 
father's  deed,  considering  what  a  blow  it  was,  and  that  he 
was  merely  her  own  father.  But  to  Jimmy,  in  private, 
she  almost  wept. 

"  My  lovely,  clear  slope  all  dug  up  into  holes.  A  lot  of 
little  sticks  (darlings,  of  course !  it  was  lovely  of  father 
Yardley,  I  can  never  thank  him  enough)  always  right 
in  your  eyes  when  you  want  to  look  at  the  sunset ;  and 
the  woods  turn  dark  early  now  against  the  west.  And  the 
color  we  used  to  see  —  Jimmy,  do  you  remember  ?  (he 
did)  — over  the  west  woods,  when  we  were  skating,  just 
before  dark,  —  that  strange  apple-green,  and  pink  and 
old  rose !  And  little  Sister  does  so  love  to  stand  on  my 
lap  in  her  nighty  and  watch  the  crows  come  pouring 
home,  as  if  they  were  emptied  out  of  the  sky." 

"  Wait,  girlie  ;  only  a  few  years.  You'll  be  comforted. 
It  will  be  different,  but  it  will  be  good." 

"  '  He  comforteth  those  who  fail  in  patience,' — mother 
used  to  say  that  —  "  Barbie  choked.  "Yes:  He  gives  us 
something  else,  better  for  us  perhaps,  but  not  the  same. 
It  is  n't  the  orchard,  Jimmy ;  it 's  —  everything  !  It 's  the 
time  of  year,  I  guess." 

Jimmy  hugged  her  in  silence. 


THE   SAME  DAY  411 

The  next  spring  they  carried  handfuls  of  their  first  pre- 
cious blossoms  up  to  "  mother  "  —  she  and  Jimmy  did  that 
alone,  but  father  knew.  The  second  year  she  and  little  Sis- 
ter did  the  same ;  the  men  were  busy ;  and  there  were  many 
blossoms  left  —  more  than  the  young  trees  were  allowed 
to  mature.  The  third  spring  it  was  a  festival,  like  the  won- 
derful May  orchards  at  home,  only  the  trees  were  so  low. 
You  looked  into  the  faces  of  the  flowers,— crowds,  masses, 
hugging  their  pink  little  buds  like  babies'  cheeks  pressed 
against  the  pale  young  mothers'.  Of  course  some  of  the 
mothers  were  pink,  too,  and  all  the  blossoms  seemed  very 
large.  Then  came  a  new  moon  setting  early  behind  the  low 
white-veiled  trees,  and  a  breath  of  river-damp  heavy  with 
perfume,  thrills  of  the  old  spring  sweetness  borne  on  the 
same  soft  rush  of  wind  that  used  to  carry  the  sound  of 
freshets  in  the  hills.  Life  to  those  pioneer  women  must  have 
been  heavily  fraught  with  the  restlessness  and  the  melan- 
choly that  home  memories  breed ;  as  the  first  years  of  mar- 
riage are  haunted  by  memories  of  girlhood ;  as,  all  through 
life,  we  advance  from  one  pioneer  stage  of  experience  to  the 
next,  attended  by  whisperings  that  clutch  at  our  beating 
hearts  out  of  the  hearts  which  have  ceased  to  beat  in  the 
countless  generations  that  conducted  us  hither. 

Barbie  wondered  what  it  must  be  like,  the  acquiescence 
of  the  old.  She  watched  her  father  walk  his  evening  rounds 
alone,  and  Mr.  Yardley  walking  by  himself,  the  two  wife- 
less old  men.  They  seemed  wonderfully  content.  She  felt 
almost  hurt  that  her  father  should  take  his  loss  with  such 
cheerful  submission.  She  would  have  predicted  a  complete 
breakdown,  that  first  summer,  an  illness  at  least.  Are  men 
such  objective  creatures  ?  Was  it  possible  to  imagine  one's 
Jimmy  taking  such  a  healthful  interest  in  everyday  affairs 


412  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

and  she  not  four  years  "  under  the  sod  " !  and  they  had 
lived  together  such  a  little  while  comparatively. 

She  went  about  her  own  life  (which  she  would  have 
considered  a  rather  hard  life  to  watch  another  woman  liv- 
ing it)  with  extraordinary  zest  and  satisfaction  in  finding 
that  her  capacities  rose  with  each  demand.  She  took  pride 
in  justifying  her  mother's  defence,  when  grandma  used  to 
complain  of  her  persistent  reading  habit  and  call  her  an 
idle  child,  a  dreamer. 

Her  mother  would  answer,  "  She  '11  take  her  head  out 
of  her  books  when  she  needs  it  somewhere  else.  A  good 
reader  means  a  good  thinker ;  and  every  woman  ought  to 
think  out  her  work  for  herself.  Housekeeping  isn't  a 
treadmill,"  and  then  she  would  add  with  a  sigh  :  "  As  for 
dreaming,  I  hope  the  time  may  never  come  when  she  can't 
dream."  Grandma  was  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  she  her- 
self had  been  a  master  dreamer.  Had  she  not  dreamed  out 
William's  future  in  the  West  ?  That  she  called  common 
sense.  It  was  William  who  had  the  common  sense  which 
took  counsel  of  prudence  at  every  step,  which  waited  to 
know  everything  before  daring  to  decide. 

Barbie's  dreams  were  not  world-wide,  but  they  were  less 
self-centred  than  when  she  wanted  one  thing  only,  that  she 
was  ashamed  to  pray  for.  Now  she  had  it,  and  Jimmy  him- 
self to  pray  for ;  three  lives  beside  her  own,  in  which  her 
own  life  was  merged  to  the  point  of  extinguishing  almost 
every  individual  desire.  Yet  she  had  an  intense  personal 
consciousness  which  gave  her  those  thrills  of  melancholy, 
those  bursts  of  lyric  joy.  And  now  and  then  an  obscure 
want  possessed  her :  she  wondered  if  Jimmy  were  keeping 
to  himself  something  which  in  a  man  corresponds  to  it, 
the  loneliness  of  sex.  However  it  started  with  her,  from 


THE  SAME  DAY  413 

various  small  causes,  it  usually  climbed  and  broke  in  a 
longing  for  one  of  the  old  woman-talks  with  one's  mother. 
Barbie  knew  not  the  love  of  sisters,  and  she  had  never  had 
an  intimate  girl  friend :  the  mother  had  been  her  sole  other 
feminine.  If  forced  to  be  honest  with  herself,  she  must 
have  admitted  these  woman-talks  had  occasionally  been 
rather  hectic ;  she  and  her  mother  had  not  been  always  per- 
fect companions  for  each  other.  A  long  old  age  rarely  is  a 
blessing  to  those  we  wish  to  keep  with  us ;  the  dear  mother 
Silence  herself  might  have  lost  her  "controls," grown  fussy 
and  tiresome,  and  even  intrusive  when  grandchildren  came 
along  (those  seeds  of  joy  and  dissension).  It  was  better 
in  every  way  that  both  should  be  spared  the  closing  chap- 
ter. Barbie  would  have  admitted  the  truth  of  all  this  in  a 
general  sense,  but  it  couldn't  have  been  true  of  them !  "  The 
grandmothers  are  not  like  that  in  our  family :  think  of 
Grandmother  Trumbull;  and  she  could  never  have  had 
just  the  quality  that  was  mother,  and  no  one  else." 

Often  she  wondered  at  her  own  complete  happiness. 
She  would  say  to  herself,  "Supposing  I  had  known, 
the  winter  Stella  came,  that  mother  —  my  mother !  would 
live  only  two  years  ?  I  could  not  have  borne  it,  —  and 
here  I  am ! "  So  that  is  love,  might  have  been  one  in- 
ference ;  it  was  not  Barbie's.  She  remembered  a  saying 
of  her  mother's  which  satisfied  her :  "  When  you  are  mar- 
ried to  a  good  man  and  have  learned  to  love  each  other, 
there  is  n't  much  in  life  you  cannot  bear." 

Did  the  wonderful  mother  mean  that,  whatever  sort  of 
love  you  may  think  you  marry  on,  you  have  to  learn  an- 
other kind  to  live  on  ?  —  the  kind  that  is  said  to  bear  all 
things,  believe  all  things  and  seek  not  its  own  ? 

With  her  and  Jimmy  the  one  last  hitch  was  that  old 


414  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

agony  of  human  forbearance,  the  Body  of  Doctrine  in 
which  Barbie  was  brought  up  and  which  her  mind  had 
accustomed  itself  to  in  a  manner  which  she  called  belief. 
Jimmy  said  she  could  n't  possibly  believe  its  code  of  sal- 
vation, for  instance,  and  preserve  her  sanity.  He  would 
not  acknowledge  that  his  own  father  believed  it  in  any 
vital  sense  —  dooming,  as  it  must,  his  only  child  to  eter- 
nal torment.  The  good  man  ate  his  three  meals  daily  and 
laid  him  down  to  sleep  at  peace  with  that  terrific  God 
of  his  Orthodoxy.  On  the  other  hand,  Barbie  smiled  to 
herself  to  see  her  haughty  mentor  carry  his  little  girl  in  to 
bed,  if  mamma  were  detained,  and  hear  her  say  her  ridicu- 
lously illogical  prayer  with  the  sweetest  gravity.  What 
did  he  think  of  that  for  sincerity !  She  never  asked  him  : 
far  too  wise  was  she !  But  if  she  had  he  would  very  likely 
have  "  come  back  "  with  the  reminder  that  "  consistency 
is  the  bug-bear  of  little  minds." 

We  trust  no  reader  of  this  tale  will  ask  the  author  to 
reconcile  the  inconsistencies  of  her  characters,  taking 
them  one  time  with  another.  There  can  be  no  doubt  Mr. 
Yardleywas  conscientious  in  that  priestly  sentence  of  his 
which  he  stood  by  and  saw  put  in  execution.  And  yet 
he  suffered  hours  of  anguish,  as  doubtless  he  deserved 
to,  in  thinking  of  it  afterwards ;  and  the  shock  of  review- 
ing his  own  action  (though  he  justified  it  in  words  to  the 
end)  broke  down  the  very  tissue  of  his  ancient  theology 
and  made  him  at  the  time  of  his  death  one  of  the  broadest 
and  tenderest  religious  teachers  which  his  generation  had 
known.  Mr.  Hannington,  who  was  ready  to  repudiate  his 
sister's  child  and  who  handed  her  over  to  punishment  pro- 
fessing not  to  feel  a  qualm,  left  his  wife  on  her  death-bed 
to  go  after  the  homeless  girl,  prepared  to  resume  his 


THE  SAME  DAY  415 

guardianship  with  all  its  responsibilities  underscored. 
Bradburn,  unprincipled  egotist  and  hardened  sport,  kept 
the  love  of  a  pious,  clever  woman,  touched  her  life  with 
the  color  of  romance,  and  hoodwinked  her  to  the  last. 
Jimmy,  in  theory,  would  have  parted  with  his  right  hand 
sooner  than  raise  it  deliberately  against  another  man's 
life  for  any  fantastic  notion  of  so-called  honor ;  yet,  con- 
fronted with  the  alternative,  he  chose  the  course  least  re- 
pulsive to  something  in  himself  which  he  could  not  reason 
about.  And  though  by  every  effort  of  love  and  friendship, 
and  even  his  own  conscience,  he  was  freely  absolved,  the 
cold  horror  of  those  moments  alone  with  Bradburn's  body 
on  the  mountain  were  never  quite  forgotten.  Through  all 
the  intricate  sources  of  culpability  in  and  out,  without  any 
pretence  of  justice,  his  soul  retained  a  deep-seated  rage 
against — not  the  man  he  fought,  but  the  weak  and  winding 
nature  he  fought  for,  that  his  hand  for  her  sake  must  wear 
this  stain.  As  for  his  tenderness  to  one  woman's  sensibili- 
ties and  the  remorseless  way  in  which  he  could  crush  an- 
other's, we  must  admit  he  did  what  a  man  is  called  on  to  do 
to  protect  his  own  from  possible  harm,  but  we  should  have 
been  sorry  to  see  it  done  as  he  did  it.  It  takes  a  certain 
hardness  to  do  such  things,  and  hardness  by  the  nature  of 
it  must  be  hard:  Jimmy  Yardley,  before  he  was  through, 
did  more  and  better  work,  as  a  citizen,  than  all  the  young 
brains  of  the  Yardley  tract  put  together. 

As  a  final  poser,  there  was  Dr.  Whitman;  the  most 
practical  of  men,  wise,  far-sighted,  for  others ;  who  was 
besieged  with  warnings  and  would  not  listen.  No,  but 
held  on  at  Waiilatpu  (place  of  bloody  grass,  that  winter 
of  1847),  and1*  brought  destruction  upon  his  faithful  wife 
and  friends  and  died  a  martyr,  sooner  than  abandon  the 


416  A  PICKED  COMPANY 

mere  material  part  of  his  great  creative  work  of  years, 
which  the  nation  remembers  while  it  forgets  his  pathetic 
human  obstinacy  and  rashness. 

And  the  missionaries?  After  so  noble  a  beginning  their 
work  showed  rather  small  in  its  immediate  results.  The 
Indians  remained  savages  and  behaved  as  savages  do; 
here  and  there  a  life  was  altered,  a  sincere  convert  made, 
but  far  many  more  acquired  a  cynicism  as  to  the  Christ- 
ian's  Road  to  Heaven  that  was  very  sad  for  the  Christian 
hope  of  bringing  light  to  souls  in  darkness ;  and  yet  those 
bigoted  men  and  women  did  not  break  the  trail  and  their 
own  hearts,  in  vain.  Mr.  Yardley's  boast  may  remain  un- 
challenged and  history  has  since  supported  it.  It  was  not 
the  two-hundred  years'  traffic  in  dead  animals'  skins,  nor 
the  skin  for  skin  wars  of  the  hunters  among  themselves, 
nor  national  jealousy,  nor  race  expansion,  nor  scientific 
exploration  that  first  uncovered  the  new  Columbia  of  the 
Rocks  which  dip  their  foot  in  the  North  Pacific  seas :  it 
was  a  wretched  intermontane  flat-headed  Indian  tribe, 
groping  for  a  better  way  of  life  in  the  imperishable  hope 
of  a  Something  hereafter. 


THE  END 


flitocrsibe 

CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .   S    .   A 


LOST  FARM  CAMP 

By  Harry  Herbert  Knibbs 

"An  exhilarating  story  of  the  Maine  woods." 

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and  their  inhabitants.  .  .  .  It  is  a  breezy,  wholesome 
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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


